Prospects for fertility control in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) using myxoma virus-vectored immunocontraception

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 511 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. H. van Leeuwen ◽  
P. J. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Fertility Control ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Delivery Vector ◽  
Virus Research

Research over the last 15 years has examined whether fertility control can reduce overabundant rabbit populations and whether an effective immunocontraceptive agent can be developed and delivered. The results of this research indicate that for fertility control to have an environmental impact at least 80% of females will need to be infertile and that this infertility will need to be permanent. Epidemiological studies suggest that this level of infertility may be very difficult to obtain with a recombinant myxoma virus because of competition with field strains of virus. Research with laboratory rabbits using recombinant myxoma virus to deliver an immunocontraceptive antigen demonstrated that it was possible to obtain the required level of infertility using rabbit zona pellucida C as an antigen. However, only ~50% of animals remained infertile in the medium term. Further research on delivery vector and antigen selection would be needed to produce a practical immunocontraceptive virus for laboratory testing. Such a virus would then need to be optimised for transmissibility before it would be suitable for field testing.

scholarly journals Myxomatosis: the occurrence of antibody to a soluble antigen of myxoma virus in wild rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.), in Victoria, Australia

1978 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Edmonds ◽  
Rosamond C. H. Shepherd ◽  
I. F. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Soluble Antigen ◽  
Relative Timing ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Semi Arid

SummaryThe occurrence of antibody to myxoma virus in wild rabbits following epizootics is highest in the semi-arid north-west of Victoria and lowest in temperate southern Victoria. Occurrence ranges up to about 90% in the north-west and to about 70% in the south except on the Western Plains where epizootics are rare and antibody occurrence seldom exceeds 30%.The establishment of the European rabbit flea may be changing the pattern of occurrence of antibody in the north-west by causing spring outbreaks of myxomatosis. It is suggested that the effects of the replacement of a simple recurring system of epizootic and breeding season several months apart by the occurrence of myxomatosis twice in the same year, once coincident with the breeding season, will be complex. The occurrence of detectable antibody may be less dependent on the infection rate and may be dependent to some extent on the relative timing of spring myxomatosis and the breeding season.

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 Passive immunity in myxomatosis of the european rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus): the protection conferred on kittens born by immune does

1954 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Fenner ◽  
I. D. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Laboratory Strain ◽  
Immune Serum ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Passive Immunity ◽  
Standard Laboratory ◽  
Survival Times ◽  
Mosquito Bite

1. The existence of passive immunity to myxomatosis was demonstrated by the inoculation of normal young rabbits with either myxoma-immune serum or saline, and their subsequent inoculation with the standard laboratory strain of myxoma virus. All the passively immunized animals lived longer than the control animals and a few survived.2. Passive immunity could also be demonstrated in the offspring of myxoma-immune mothers. When these were challenged by mosquito bite inoculation with the standard laboratory strain of myxoma virus they either failed to become infected, or survived infection for several days longer than the progeny of normal does. When challenged by the intradermal inoculation of a slightly attenuated strain of myxoma virus 25 % of the progeny of immune does survived the infection, whereas none of the normal kittens survived.3. The survival times of young rabbits in both the normal and passively immunized groups was influenced by their age, very young animals dying several days earlier than rabbits 4 and 6 weeks old.4. The possible epidemiological consequences of passive immunity in the behaviour of myxomatosis in populations of wild rabbits are discussed.

The Establishment and Spread of Spilopsyllus Cuniculi (Dale) and Its Location on the Host, Oryctolagus Cuniculus (L.), In the Mallee Region of Victoria.

1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
RCH Shepherd ◽  
JW Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
The Body ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Initial Release ◽  
Breeding Seasons

European rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) (Dale)) were released into a population of wild rabbits at 7 sites on Pine Plains in the Mallee district of Victoria, Australia, and their establishment and distribution observed monthly for 4 years. After 12 months, including one breeding season, the fleas were found on some rabbits up to 0.8 km from some release sites. By the end of the second breeding season, the distance of spread had doubled, and 4 years after the initial release, including 5 breeding seasons, about 95% of rabbits caught carried S. cuniculi. The furthest spread was about 13 km. When the initial release was made during the summer months, the non-breeding season, spread was slow; in one area, it took 2 years for S. cuniculi to become firmly established. When examples of S. cuniculi infected with myxoma virus were released, no establishment of the disease was observed. The numbers of S. cuniculi per rabbit were low during the first breeding season, but they were high, up to 500/rabbit, after 4 years. In most cases, the fleas were seen on the ears, pinnae and head of the rabbit and occasionally in the body fur. The highest numbers were usually found on pregnant lactating does about to litter, but some bucks also carried a large number.

scholarly journals The differential transmissibility of myxoma virus strains of differing virulence grades by the rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale)

1975 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Mead-Briggs ◽  
J. A. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Host Resistance ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Myxoma Virus ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Virus Strains ◽  
Sampling Times

SUMMARYLaboratory studies showed that few rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale)) transmitted myxomatosis after removal from wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus (L)) that had been infected for fewer than 10–12 days, irrespective of the virulence of the myxoma virus strain involved. Rabbits infected with fully virulent (Grade I) strains died within 10–15 days and few fleas from these hosts became infective; averaging all the samples taken, 12% of the fleas were infective. Also, few fleas acquired infectivity on individual rabbits which recovered from infection with attenuated strains; the mean was 8% infective. Rabbits which died between 17 and 44 days after infection had higher proportions of infective fleas at all sampling times; the mean was 42% infective. Male and female fleas transmitted virus with equal efficiency.For rabbits infected with any of the attenuated virus strains the mean percentage of infective fleas was inversely related to the survival time of the host. Rabbits infected with moderately attenuated strains (Grades IIIA and IIIB) had, on average, the highest proportion of infective fleas; hence such strains have a selective advantage and have become predominant under natural conditions in Britain. The changes that might occur if there is an increase in host resistance to myxomatosis are discussed.

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