title: Phylogenetic analysis of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus strains from the Arabian Peninsula: did RHDV emerge simultaneously in Europe and Asia?
abstract: Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) emerged in 1984 in China and subsequently a single strain apparently dispersed worldwide killing millions of rabbits. Two isolates that caused outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been sequenced and analysed phylogenetically. The Saudi Arabian lineage is directly descended from the Chinese strain, but the Bahrain isolate occupies a distinct and more divergent lineage than the Chinese virus implying that epidemic RHDV strains have emerged at least twice during the past 20 years and are co-circulating in both domestic and wild rabbits.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (formerly Institute of Virology), Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK. nlf@ceh.ac.uk
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Forrester
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Abubakr
authors.forename: E M E
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Abu Elzein
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Al-Afaleq
authors.forename: F M T
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Housawi
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gould
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology*; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D017929:Hemorrhagic Disease Virus, Rabbit / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011817:Rabbits