title: Identification and partial characterisation of a new Lagovirus in Australian wild rabbits.
abstract: Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) is widely used in Australia to control feral rabbit populations. Before RHDV was released on the Australian continent in 1996, antibodies cross-reacting in RHDV specific ELISAs were found in Australian wild rabbits, leading to the hypothesis that a non-pathogenic calicivirus had been circulating in rabbit populations in Australia, potentially providing some level of cross-immunoprotection to RHDV infection. For the detection of this putative virus, a universal lagovirus PCR test was developed to screen a variety of different tissues of wild caught rabbits. We identified a new lagovirus in the intestinal tissues of three apparently healthy young wild rabbits. Quantitative Real Time PCR analysis revealed high concentrations of viral RNA in intestinal tissues and suggests a faecal-oral mode of transmission. Genome organisation and phylogenetic analysis following the sequencing of the entire viral genome revealed a new member of the genus Lagovirus within the family Caliciviridae.
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. tanja.strive@csiro.au
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strive
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002044:Bunyaviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D019649:Food Industry; D016679:Genome, Viral; D029321:Lagovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008460:Meat / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011817:Rabbits / Q000821:virology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral