<div>A fetal goat cell line (ZZ-R 127) supplied by the Collection of Cell Lines in Veterinary Medicine of the</div>
<div>Friedrich Loeffler Institute was examined for susceptibility to infection by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus</div>
<div>(FMDV) and by two other viruses causing clinically indistinguishable vesicular conditions, namely, the viruses</div>
<div>of swine vesicular disease and vesicular stomatitis. Primary bovine thyroid (BTY) cells are generally the most</div>
<div>sensitive cell culture system for FMDV detection but are problematic to produce, particularly for laboratories</div>
<div>that infrequently perform FMD diagnostic tests and for those in countries where FMD is endemic that face</div>
<div>problems in sourcing thyroid glands from FMD-negative calves. Strains representing all seven serotypes of</div>
<div>FMDV could be isolated in ZZ-R 127 cells with a sensitivity that was considerably higher than that of</div>
<div>established cell lines and within 0.5 log of that for BTY cells. The ZZ-R 127 cell line was found to be a sensitive,</div>
<div>rapid, and convenient tool for the isolation of FMDV and a useful alternative to BTY cells for FMD diagnosis.</div>