Foot-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever for two or three days, followed by blisters inside the mouth and on the feet that may rupture and cause lameness. Susceptible animals include cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, antelope, deer, and bison. It has had a dramatic impact on the farming industry leading to tremendous economic losses particularly in countries which are naturally FMD-free. Previous studies have shown that Iran has one of the highest reported rates of FMD cases per year. This study was undertaken to compare nucleotide sequences of VP1 gene Asia 1 isolates from Iran with available corresponding sequences from Asian countries deposited in the GenBank database.

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