Synthetic vaccines for foot and mouth disease

Abstract

A class of compounds having activity in treating and/or preventing foot and mouth disease is disclosed. The compounds contain a sequence of the formula X-A-Y-B-Z in which A and B are amino acid residue sequences comprising sequences of the foot-and-mouth disease virus VP.sub.1 capsid protein serotypes, one of which contains from 18 to 24 amino acid residues and includes the amino acid residue sequence in positions 141 to 158 of the O serotype or the equivalent sequence of other serotypes and the other of which contains from 14 to 20 amino acid residues and includes the amino acid residue sequence in positions 200 to 213 of the O serotype or the equivalent sequence of other serotypes; X is H, H-Cys, or H-Cys-Cys, the sulfhydryls of which may be blocked or free; Z is OH, Cys-OH, or Pro-Cys-Gly-OH, the sulfhydryls of which may be blocked or free; and Y is a sequence of from about 2 to about 6 amino acid residues.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.