Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of polypeptide, virus-like particles, and viral vector vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease (2020–2025)

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) remains one of the most contagious viral diseases affecting livestock, posing major economic and food security challenges. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated recent advances in FMD vaccine strategies and their protective efficacy across platforms. The inclusion criteria were met by 24 out of 3,169 evaluated studies. Bibliometric trends highlighted growing interest in FMD vaccine technologies and the VP1 protein as a key immunogen. Innovative delivery methods, such as nanoliposomes, virus-like particles (VLPs), and dendrimeric peptides, have been linked to enhanced immune responses. A meta-analysis of studies conducted between 2020 and 2025 was performed to compare the protective effectiveness of four main vaccine platforms: peptide-based, viral vector, VLP, and dendritic cell-based vaccines. Subgroup analysis showed that VLP (RR = 1.66, 95% CI: 0.97-2.86) and viral vector vaccines (RR = 1.90, 95% CI: 0.08-46.65) demonstrated higher protection compared to other platforms, though wide confidence intervals suggest variability in efficacy across studies. Peptide vaccines demonstrated moderate efficacy (RR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.75-1.57), whereas dendritic cell-based vaccines provided limited benefit. These findings support further development of peptide and VLP vaccines and underscore the role of advanced delivery systems in improving FMD vaccine effectiveness and contributing to One Health goals.