title: Rabbit haemorrhagic disease: virus persistence and adaptation in Australia.
abstract: In Australia, the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) has been used since 1996 to reduce numbers of introduced European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) which have a devastating impact on the native Australian environment. RHDV causes regular, short disease outbreaks, but little is known about how the virus persists and survives between epidemics. We examined the initial spread of RHDV to show that even upon its initial spread, the virus circulated continuously on a regional scale rather than persisting at a local population level and that Australian rabbit populations are highly interconnected by virus-carrying flying vectors. Sequencing data obtained from a single rabbit population showed that the viruses that caused an epidemic each year seldom bore close genetic resemblance to those present in previous years. Together, these data suggest that RHDV survives in the Australian environment through its ability to spread amongst rabbit subpopulations. This is consistent with modelling results that indicated that in a large interconnected rabbit meta-population, RHDV should maintain high virulence, cause short, strong disease outbreaks but show low persistence in any given subpopulation. This new epidemiological framework is important for understanding virus-host co-evolution and future disease management options of pest species to secure Australia's remaining natural biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) Berlin, Germany ; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: Nina I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Schwensow
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity SA Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kovaliski
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity SA Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity SA Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peacock
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) Berlin, Germany ; Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam University Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Joerns
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fickel
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) Berlin, Germany ; Institute of Experimental Ecology (M25), University of Ulm Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sommer
keywords: Oryctolagus cuniculus; adaptation; calicivirus; rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus epidemiology