Arrival of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 to northern Europe: Emergence and outbreaks in wild and domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Sweden

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Neimanis ◽  
H. Ahola ◽  
S. Zohari ◽  
U. Larsson Pettersson ◽  
C. Bröjer ◽  
...  
Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuhong Miao ◽  
Ruibing Qi ◽  
Luut Veldkamp ◽  
Jooske Ijzer ◽  
Marja L. Kik ◽  
...  

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) type 2 (GI.2/RHDV2/b) is an emerging pathogen in wild rabbits and in domestic rabbits vaccinated against RHDV (GI.1). Here we report the genome sequence of a contemporary RHDV2 isolate from the Netherlands and investigate the immunogenicity of virus-like particles (VLPs) produced in insect cells. RHDV2 RNA was isolated from the liver of a naturally infected wild rabbit and the complete viral genome sequence was assembled from sequenced RT-PCR products. Phylogenetic analysis based on the VP60 capsid gene demonstrated that the RHDV2 NL2016 isolate clustered with other contemporary RHDV2 strains. The VP60 gene was cloned in a baculovirus expression vector to produce VLPs in Sf9 insect cells. Density-gradient purified RHDV2 VLPs were visualized by transmission electron microscopy as spherical particles of around 30 nm in diameter with a morphology resembling authentic RHDV. Immunization of rabbits with RHDV2 VLPs resulted in high production of serum antibodies against VP60, and the production of cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-4) was significantly elevated in the immunized rabbits compared to the control group. The results demonstrate that the recombinant RHDV2 VLPs are highly immunogenic and may find applications in serological detection assays and might be further developed as a vaccine candidate to protect domestic rabbits against RHDV2 infection.


Virology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 464-465 ◽  
pp. 415-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Elsworth ◽  
Brian D. Cooke ◽  
John Kovaliski ◽  
Ronald Sinclair ◽  
Edward C. Holmes ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 635 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. McPhee ◽  
D. Berman ◽  
A. Gonzales ◽  
K. L. Butler ◽  
J. Humphrey ◽  
...  

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.


2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Henning ◽  
D. U. Pfeiffer ◽  
P. R. Davies ◽  
J. Meers ◽  
R. S. Morris

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.


2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulina Niedźwiedzka-Rystwej ◽  
Beata Hukowska-Szematowicz ◽  
Beata Tokarz-Deptuła ◽  
Alicja Trzeciak-Ryczek ◽  
Joanna Działo ◽  
...  

The pathogenicity of RHDV (rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus) is mainly associated with its affinity to blood vessels, with causing disseminated intravascular coagulations (DIC), and with the stimulation of the host immune system. Moreover, there are implications suggesting that apoptosis may be a pivotal process in understanding the basis of viral haemorrhagic disease in rabbits - a serious infectious disease causing mortality to wild and domestic rabbits. The aim of this study is to evaluate, by means of flow cytometry, the dynamics of apoptosis in peripheral blood granulocytes and lymphocytes in rabbits experimentally infected with seven different strains of RHDV and so-called antigenic variants of RHDV denominated as RHDVa, i.e.: Hungarian 24V/89, 1447V/96, 72V/2003; Austrian 01-04, 237/04, V-412 and French 05-01. The results showed that all of the RHDV and RHDVa strains cause an increase in the number of apoptotic cells throughout the infection, which might indicate the need for further analysis of the importance of this process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e001002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Luisa Carvalho ◽  
Fábio Alexandre Abade dos Santos ◽  
Teresa Fagulha ◽  
Paulo Carvalho ◽  
Paula Mendonça ◽  
...  

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.


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