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Mohamed F, Gidlewski T, Berninger ML, Petrowski HM, Bracht AJ, de Rueda CB, Barrette RW, Grady M, O'Hearn ES, Lewis CE, Moran KE, Sturgill TL, Capucci L, Root JJ. Comparative susceptibility of eastern cottontails and New Zealand white rabbits to classical rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and RHDV2. Transbound Emerg Dis 2021; 69:e968-e978. [PMID: 34738741 DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is associated with high morbidity and mortality in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In 2010, a genetically distinct RHDV named RHDV2 emerged in Europe and spread to many other regions, including North America in 2016. Prior to this study it was unknown if eastern cottontails (ECT(s); Sylvilagus floridanus), one of the most common wild lagomorphs in the United States, were susceptible to RHDV2. In this study, 10 wild-caught ECTs and 10 New Zealand white rabbits (NZWR(s); O. cuniculus) were each inoculated orally with either RHDV (RHDVa/GI.1a; n = 5 per species) or RHDV2 (a recombinant GI.1bP-GI.2; n = 5 per species) and monitored for the development of disease. Three of the five ECTs that were infected with RHDV2 developed disease consistent with RHD and died at 4 and 6 days post-inoculation (DPI). The RHDV major capsid protein/antigen (VP60) was detected in the livers of three ECTs infected with RHDV2, but none was detected in the ECTs infected with RHDV. Additionally, RHD viral RNA was detected in the liver, spleen, intestine and blood of ECTs infected with RHDV2, but not in the ECTs infected with RHDV. RHD viral RNA was detected in urine, oral swabs and rectal swabs in at least two of five ECTs infected with RHDV2. One ECT inoculated with RHDV2 seroconverted and developed a high antibody titre by the end of the experimental period (21 DPI). ECTs inoculated with the classic RHDV did not seroconvert. In comparison, NZWRs inoculated with RHDV2 exhibited high mortality (five of five) at 2 DPI and four of five NZWRs inoculated with RHDV either died or were euthanized at 2 DPI indicating both of these viruses were highly pathogenic to this species. This experiment indicates that ECTs are susceptible to RHDV2 and can shed viral RNA, thereby suggesting this species could be involved in the epidemiology of this virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fawzi Mohamed
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Thomas Gidlewski
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Disease Program, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Mary L Berninger
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Heather M Petrowski
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Alexa J Bracht
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Carla Bravo de Rueda
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Roger W Barrette
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Meredith Grady
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Disease Program, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Emily S O'Hearn
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Charles E Lewis
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Karen E Moran
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, New York, USA
| | - Tracy L Sturgill
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Regionalization Evaluation Services, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Lorenzo Capucci
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimenatale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna and OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, Brescia, Italy
| | - J Jeffrey Root
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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Neimanis AS, Ahola H, Zohari S, Larsson Pettersson U, Bröjer C, Capucci L, Gavier-Widén D. Arrival of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 to northern Europe: Emergence and outbreaks in wild and domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Sweden. Transbound Emerg Dis 2017; 65:213-220. [PMID: 28407381 DOI: 10.1111/tbed.12650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Incursion of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) into Sweden was documented in 1990 and it is now considered endemic in wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations. Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2), a new, related lagovirus was first detected in France in 2010, and has spread rapidly throughout Europe and beyond. However, knowledge of RHDV2 in northern Europe is sporadic and incomplete, and in Sweden, routinely available diagnostic methods to detect rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) do not distinguish between types of virus causing disease. Using RHDV2-specific RT-qPCR, sequencing of the VP60 gene and immunological virus typing of archived and prospective case material from the National Veterinary Institute's (SVA) wildlife disease surveillance programme and diagnostic pathology service, we describe the emergence of RHDV2 in Sweden in both wild and domestic rabbits. The earliest documented outbreak occurred on 22 May 2013, and from May 2013 to May 2016, 10 separate incidents of RHDV2 were documented from six different municipalities in the southern half of Sweden. Phylogenetic analysis of the VP60 gene shows clear clustering of Swedish isolates into three separate clusters within two different clades according to geographic location and time, suggesting viral evolution, multiple introduction events or both. Almost all cases of RHD examined by SVA from May 2013 to May 2016 were caused by RHDV2, suggesting that RHDV2 may be replacing RHDV as the predominant cause of RHD in Sweden.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Neimanis
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - H Ahola
- Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - S Zohari
- Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - U Larsson Pettersson
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - C Bröjer
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
| | - L Capucci
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna 'Bruno Ubertini' (IZSLER), OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease, Brescia, Italy
| | - D Gavier-Widén
- Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
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