Lagovirus europeus GI.2 (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2) infection in captive mountain hares (Lepus timidus) in Germany

• Published in: BMC Veterinary Research
• Main Authors: Buehler, Melanie, Jesse, Sonja T., Kueck, Heike, Lange, Bastian, König, Patricia, Jo, Wendy K., Osterhaus, Albert, Beineke, Andreas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: article; Text; ddc:630; Leporidae; Phylogenetic analysis; Emerging Infection; Caliciviridae; Rhdv2; Lagovirus; Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2; Gi.2; Lepus timidus
• 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/

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.