Spread of new variant RHDV in domestic rabbits on the Iberian Peninsula.
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease outbreaks in young rabbits have been recently observed in Spain. In this study we have tracked the spread of variant RHDV in samples collected from rabbit farms over a period of more than one year using RT-PCR and antigen-capture ELISA. The isolates were sequenced and compared to classic and variant RHDV strains and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. Mortalities have been observed in kits as young as 11 days. More than 50% of the dead rabbits had been previously vaccinated against RHDV using commercially available inactivated vaccines indicating a putative lack of protection against the variant RHDV. The large majority of the studied outbreaks (94.5%) in Spanish farms during 2012 were due to variant RHDV and only 3 out of the 55 farms were affected by classic RHDV. The data demonstrates that the variant RHDV has spread through a large number of Spanish provinces in a relatively short period of time, largely replacing the previously predominant G1 RHDV genotypes. Considering the lack of efficient vaccines against the variant RHDV strains strict disease control and greater vigilance measures should be put in place.
Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Edificio Santiago Gascón, Campus El Cristo, Universidad de Oviedo, 33007 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Kevin P
KP
Dalton
Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Edificio Santiago Gascón, Campus El Cristo, Universidad de Oviedo, 33007 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Inés
I
Nicieza
CIBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, InBIO, Laboratório Associado, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal; INSERM, U892, Université de Nantes, 44007 Nantes, France.
Joana
J
Abrantes
CIBIO-UP, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, InBIO, Laboratório Associado, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal; CITS, Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias da Saúde, IPSN, CESPU, Gandra, Portugal.
Pedro J
PJ
Esteves
Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Edificio Santiago Gascón, Campus El Cristo, Universidad de Oviedo, 33007 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Electronic address: fparra@uniovi.es.
Francisco
F
Parra
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D017929:Hemorrhagic Disease Virus, Rabbit / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D011817:Rabbits / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage
D014765:Viral Vaccines
Epizootiology; Spain; Variant RHDV; Young rabbits