Lagovirus europeus GI.2 (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) infection in captive mountain hares (Lepus timidus) in Germany
BACKGROUND:Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV, Lagovirus europeus GI.1) induces a contagious and highly lethal hemorrhagic disease in rabbits. In 2010 a new genotype of lagovirus (GI.2), emerged in Europe, infecting wild and domestic population of rabbits and hares. CASE PRESENTATION:We describe...
Published in: | BMC Veterinary Research |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02386-4 https://www.openagrar.de/receive/openagrar_mods_00060364 https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagrar_derivate_00030311/SD2020242.pdf https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-020-02386-4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7254734/ |
Summary: | BACKGROUND:Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV, Lagovirus europeus GI.1) induces a contagious and highly lethal hemorrhagic disease in rabbits. In 2010 a new genotype of lagovirus (GI.2), emerged in Europe, infecting wild and domestic population of rabbits and hares. CASE PRESENTATION:We describe the infection with a GI.2 strain, "Bremerhaven-17", in captive mountain hares (Lepus timidus) in a zoo facility in Germany. Postmortem examination revealed RHD-like lesions including necrotizing hepatitis. RT-qPCR and AG-ELISA confirmed presence of GI.2. Recombination and phylogenetic analysis grouped the identified strain with other GI.2 strains, sharing nucleotide identity of 91-99%. CONCLUSION:Our findings confirm that mountain hares are susceptible to GI.2 infection, due to a past recombination event facilitating virus spillover from sympatric rabbits. |
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