Late in the summer of 2015, several cases of Senecavirus A (SVA, formerly referred to as Seneca Valley virus or SVV) were detected in the upper Midwest. SVA is particularly worrisome because the clinical signs are indistinguishable from many vesicular foreign animal diseases (FADs) including foot-and-mouth disease, vesicular stomatitis, and swine vesicular disease.

When the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH) got a call in late September from the State Veterinarian’s office that vesicular lesions had been detected in pigs at a slaughter facility, DCPAH faculty and staff responded with speed and efficiency. In addition to testing samples for foot-and-mouth disease, the virology laboratory collaborated with the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to validate and implement a real-time PCR assay for SVA by November.