Detection of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) in nonspecific vertebrate hosts sympatric to the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1469-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás Merchán ◽  
Gregorio Rocha ◽  
Fernando Alda ◽  
Eliane Silva ◽  
Gertrude Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

Myxoma virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 coinfection in a European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus), Portugal

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e001002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Luisa Carvalho ◽  
Fábio Alexandre Abade dos Santos ◽  
Teresa Fagulha ◽  
Paulo Carvalho ◽  
Paula Mendonça ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

Myxoma virus (MYXV) and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) are two major pathogens that affect the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Between August 2017 and August 2019, 1166 wild rabbits (971 legally hunted and 195 found dead) were tested by PCR-based methods for MYXV and RHDV2 within the scope of an ongoing surveillance programme on wild leporids in Portugal. Despite never having been reported before and being considered a rare event, coinfection by RHDV2 and MYXV was detected in one juvenile wild rabbit found dead in the Évora district located in Alentejo. The relative frequency of coinfection in the group of diseased rabbits (found dead in the field) was 0.52 per cent (1/195). The positivity percentage of each single virus was much higher, namely, 14.36 per cent (28/195) for MYXV and 55.38 per cent (108/195) for RHDV2, within the 2 years of sample collection considered.

scholarly journals Increased virulence of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus associated with genetic resistance in wild Australian rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus )

Virology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 464-465 ◽  
pp. 415-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Elsworth ◽  
Brian D. Cooke ◽  
John Kovaliski ◽  
Ronald Sinclair ◽  
Edward C. Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Genetic Resistance ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

Seropositivity to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in non-target mammals during periods of viral activity in a population of wild rabbits in New Zealand

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 305 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Henning ◽  
P. R. Davies ◽  
J. Meers
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Disease Virus ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Target Species ◽  
Rabbit Population ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

As part of a longitudinal study of the epidemiology of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) in New Zealand, serum samples were obtained from trapped feral animals that may have consumed European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) carcasses (non-target species). During a 21-month period when RHDV infection was monitored in a defined wild rabbit population, 16 feral house cats (Felis catus), 11 stoats (Mustela erminea), four ferrets (Mustela furo) and 126 hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) were incidentally captured in the rabbit traps. The proportions of samples that were seropositive to RHDV were 38% for cats, 18% for stoats, 25% for ferrets and 4% for hedgehogs. Seropositive non-target species were trapped in April 2000, in the absence of an overt epidemic of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in the rabbit population, but evidence of recent infection in rabbits was shown. Seropositive non-target species were found up to 2.5 months before and 1 month after this RHDV activity in wild rabbits was detected. Seropositive predators were also trapped on the site between 1 and 4.5 months after a dramatic RHD epidemic in February 2001. This study has shown that high antibody titres can be found in non-target species when there is no overt evidence of RHDV infection in the rabbit population, although a temporal relationship could not be assessed statistically owning to the small sample sizes. Predators and scavengers might be able to contribute to localised spread of RHDV through their movements.

Efficacy of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) for estimating prevalence of immunity to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) in populations of Australian wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 635 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. McPhee ◽  
D. Berman ◽  
A. Gonzales ◽  
K. L. Butler ◽  
J. Humphrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Diagnostic Specificity ◽  
Predictive Equations ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Lethal Doses

This study examines the efficacy of a cELISA in estimating the prevalence of immunity to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) in wild rabbits in Australia. Rabbits (n = 343) captured from six locations in Victoria and Queensland were experimentally challenged with a lethal oral dose (1500 50%-lethal doses, LD50) of RHDV. Death or survival to challenge was used to determine the performance characteristics of the test. The diagnostic specificity, sensitivity and accuracy were highly variable between sites, making it difficult to select a representative cut-off value for all sites that achieved a reasonable level of accuracy for the prediction of surviving and non-surviving rabbits. Estimates of prevalence of immunity were biased owing to effects of site of capture (time of capture) and age structure of the population. Using predictive equations, the best estimates of survival were ±10% but these results came from a limited range of sites, all of which had survival in the range 49–70%. The cELISA will determine whether the RHDV is present in rabbit populations but it should be used with caution when estimating the prevalence of immunity to RHDV. The cELISA may thus be limited in its application for examining the epidemiology of RHDV in Australian rabbit populations.

Temporal dynamics of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus infection in a low-density population of wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in New Zealand

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Henning ◽  
D. U. Pfeiffer ◽  
P. R. Davies ◽  
J. Meers ◽  
R. S. Morris
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Disease Virus ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Adult Survivors ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

A longitudinal capture–mark–recapture study was conducted to determine the temporal dynamics of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in a European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population of low to moderate density on sand-hill country in the lower North Island of New Zealand. A combination of sampling (trapping and radio-tracking) and diagnostic (cELISA, PCR and isotype ELISA) methods was employed to obtain data weekly from May 1998 until June 2001. Although rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) infection was detected in the study population in all 3 years, disease epidemics were evident only in the late summer or autumn months in 1999 and 2001. Overall, 20% of 385 samples obtained from adult animals older than 11 weeks were seropositive. An RHD outbreak in 1999 contributed to an estimated population decline of 26%. A second RHD epidemic in February 2001 was associated with a population decline of 52% over the subsequent month. Following the outbreaks, the seroprevalence in adult survivors was between 40% and 50%. During 2000, no deaths from RHDV were confirmed and mortalities were predominantly attributed to predation. Influx of seronegative immigrants was greatest in the 1999 and 2001 breeding seasons, and preceded the RHD epidemics in those years. Our data suggest that RHD epidemics require the population immunity level to fall below a threshold where propagation of infection can be maintained through the population.

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus: serological evidence of a non-virulent RHDV-like virus in south-western Australia

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 605 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Bruce ◽  
Laurie E. Twigg
Keyword(s):  
Disease Virus ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Wild Rabbit ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus ◽  
Serological Evidence ◽  
Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease ◽  
European Rabbits ◽  
Haemorrhagic Disease

Although several different cELISAs have been used to assess the exposure of European rabbits to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), the interpretation of the results of such assays is not always straight-forward. Here we report on such difficulties, and on the likely presence of a non-virulent rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus–like virus (nvRHDV-LV) in south-western Australia. Analysis of sera collected from European rabbits at Kojaneerup (near Albany) in Western Australia provided the first serological evidence of the likely presence of a nvRHDV-LV in wild rabbit populations outside the east coast of Australia and New Zealand, before the deliberate introduction of RHDV as biological control agent in both countries. Six out of 30 rabbits (20%) sampled 1–2 months before the known arrival of RHDV at Kojaneerup were seropositive to RHD on the basis of their IgG isoELISAs. However, none of these positive samples were positive for the RHDV antibody cELISA (1 : 10), indicating likely exposure to nvRHDV-LV. Subsequent serological analysis of 986 rabbits sampled between September 1996 and August 1999 at Kojaneerup indicated that nvRHDV-LV persisted in these rabbits following the natural arrival of RHDV in September 1996. At least 10–34% of rabbits appeared to have been exposed to nvRHDV-LV during the 3-year study. The presence of nvRHDV-LV seemed to offer only limited protection to rabbits from RHDV during the initial epizootic; however, persistence of nvRHDV-LV may have mitigated further RHDV activity after this epizootic. Fewer than 1% of rabbits (9 of 986) showed evidence of RHDV-challenge during the 30 months following the initial RHDV epizootic. Furthermore, except for the epizootic in September 1996, no clinical signs of the disease were apparent in the population until RHDV was deliberately reintroduced in April 1999. Mortality of rabbits exposed to RHDV at this time appeared to be correlated with their IgG isoELISA titre.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document