Large-scale assessment of myxomatosis prevalence in European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) 60 years after first outbreak in Spain

Villafuerte, Rafael; Castro, Francisca; Ramírez, Esther; Cotilla, Irene; Parra, Francisco; Delibes‐Mateos, Miguel; Recuerda, Pilar; Rouco, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.05.014

Cited by 28 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Arthur and Louzis [59] studied classic myxomatosis during 1953–1965, and the atypical form since 1979; in the first case, there were more epidemics in August–October, whereas in the second, they also occurred in winter. In Spain, according to Villafuerte et al [60] from 2003 to 2009 there was a higher occurrence of myxomatosis in wild rabbits during summer and autumn. Some years, there were outbreaks during winter [61], depending on the rainfall and the availability of food, the reproductive activity and the presence of susceptible young rabbits [62].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxomatosis and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease: A 30-Year Study of the Occurrence on Commercial Farms in Spain

Rosell¹,

Fuente

Parra

et al. 2019

Animals

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Simple SummaryMyxomatosis has affected the European domestic rabbit in Spain since the end of 1953; and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) since mid-1988. In this study, we describe the occurrence of myxomatosis; and RHD; on commercial rabbitries visited in Spain; between 1988 and 2018. Annual occurrence of myxomatosis decreased over 30 years. Cases of myxomatosis were detected most frequently between August and March; more cases occurring in September and fewer in June. Two important RHD epidemics occurred; the first in 1988–1989 due to classic RHD virus (RHDV), and the second from 2011 to 2013 due to new calicivirus (RHDVb/RHDV2). Monthly occurrence of RHD in 2011–2018 was higher from April to August. Despite seasonal variations of these diseases; we recommend that young breeders and adults should be protected by vaccination all year round; and on-farm hygiene measures implementedAbstractIn this retrospective study, we describe the relative occurrence of clinical myxomatosis, and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), on 1714 commercial farms visited in Spain, between 1988 and 2018. We determined the annual prevalence based on 817 visits to 394 farms affected by myxomatosis. Myxomatosis was more prevalent from August to March, being lowest in June (3%) and highest in September (8.9%). With regard to RHD, we assessed 253 visits to 156 affected farms. We analyzed mean annual and monthly incidence. Two important RHD epidemics occurred; the first in 1988–1989 due to RHDV GI.1 (also known as RHDV), and the second from 2011 to 2013 due to RHDV GI.2 (RHDV2 or RHDVb). These epidemics occurred at times when effective vaccination had not been carried out. Relative monthly incidence in 2011–2018 was higher from April to August (p < 0.001). The results we obtained from 1404 necropsies on 102 farms did not clearly relate serosanguinous nasal discharge in rabbits with disease caused by GI.2 infection. We also assessed vaccination schedules used on 200 doe farms visited from the end of 2014 to 2018; 95.5% vaccinated against myxomatosis and 97.5% against RHD. Both diseases remain prevalent; however, effective vaccination has produced a steady decline in myxomatosis and RHDV GI.1 and GI.2 on-farm detection. The maintenance of high hygienic standards will be needed to continue and improve this control. However, further studies are required to investigate the causes of sustained virus presence and vaccine breaks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxomatosis and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease: A 30-Year Study of the Occurrence on Commercial Farms in Spain

Rosell¹,

Fuente

Parra

et al. 2019

Animals

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“…Myxoma virus (MYXV) and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) are the two major pathogen threats for the European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) 1 2…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxoma virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 coinfection in a European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus), Portugal

Carvalho

Santos

Fagulha

et al. 2020

Vet Record Case Reports

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Myxoma virus (MYXV) and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) are two major pathogens that affect the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Between August 2017 and August 2019, 1166 wild rabbits (971 legally hunted and 195 found dead) were tested by PCR-based methods for MYXV and RHDV2 within the scope of an ongoing surveillance programme on wild leporids in Portugal. Despite never having been reported before and being considered a rare event, coinfection by RHDV2 and MYXV was detected in one juvenile wild rabbit found dead in the Évora district located in Alentejo. The relative frequency of coinfection in the group of diseased rabbits (found dead in the field) was 0.52 per cent (1/195). The positivity percentage of each single virus was much higher, namely, 14.36 per cent (28/195) for MYXV and 55.38 per cent (108/195) for RHDV2, within the 2 years of sample collection considered.

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“…The seroprevalence found in the Iberian hare is much lower than the seroprevalence reported in European rabbits (Ferreira et al, 2009;Boag et al, 2013), which can be justified by the high fatality rate of ha-MYXV infection in hares (Bocanegra et al, 2019). Also, the Iberian hare is a more solitary species than the gregarious European rabbit, attaining lower densities (Gortazar et al, 2007), which could hinder MYXV transmission (Villafuerte et al, 2017b). Also, the reproductive characteristics of hares, with less and smaller litters compared to the European rabbit (Alves et al, 2002;Gonçalves et al, 2002) introduce fewer susceptible juveniles to the population, which may lead to greater containment of outbreaks due to the existence of fewer susceptible animals (García- Bocanegra et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…In the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus ), MYXV high virulent strains induce a severe, often fatal, generalised disease characterised by swollen head, eyelids and ears, blepharoconjunctivitis with mucopurulent ocular and nasal discharge, cutaneous lesions, and inflammation and oedema of the genitalia and perianal skin (Bertagnoli and Marchandeau, 2015;Kerr et al, 2015). Since its intentional introduction in Europe in 1952, myxomatosis became endemic in European rabbit populations (Bertagnoli and Marchandeau, 2015;Villafuerte et al, 2017a). According to the severity of the lesions induced in rabbit, the MYXV strains can be classified in I (higher) to V (lower) virulence grades ( Kerr & Best, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serology unveils decades-long contact of the Iberian hare, Lepus granatensis, with myxoma or antigenically-related virus.

Santos

Santos²,

Carvalho

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The 2018 outbreak of myxomatosis in the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis), has been hypothesized to originate from a species jump of the rabbit-associated myxoma virus (MYXV), after natural recombination with an unknown poxvirus. Iberian hares were long considered resistant to myxomatosis as no prior outbreaks were reported. To provide insights into the emergence of this recombinant virus (ha-MYXV), we investigated serum samples from 451 Iberian hares (88 live captured, 313 hunted and 50 found dead) collected over two time periods, 1994-1999 and 2017-2019, using a rabbit commercial indirect ELISA after validation, and tested different tissues or sera by a qPCR targeting M0005L/R gene conserved in MYXV and ha-MYXV. The cutoff of ELISA Relative Index 10 = 6.1 yielded an estimated positive predictive value of 96.4% (CI95% 82.6-98.0%), by comparison with qPCR positive and negative reference hares. Overall, antibodies were detected in 12.6% (57/451) of the hares tested, of which 40.3% (23/57) were also qPCR positive. Antibodies were found in apparently healthy hares sampled in 1994-1999 (n=10, none MYXV-DNA positive), and in 2017-2019 (n=28, of which 14% were MYXV-DNA positive). For the Iberian hares hunted or live trapped, seroprevalence was significantly higher in 2017-2019 (13.0%, CI95% 9.2-18.2%) than in 1994-1999 (5.4%, CI95% 3.0-9.6%) (p=0.005), and significantly higher in 2019 (p=0.007), being lower during the winter (p<0.001). While our molecular and serological results show that Iberian hares have been in contact with MYXV or an antigenically similar virus at least since 1994, they also show an increase in seroprevalence in 2018-2019. The more remote contact of hares with MYXV may have occurred with strains that circulated in wild rabbit, or unnoticed strains circulating in Iberian hare populations. This work clearly confirms the circulation of MYXV in the Iberian hare ate least 20 years before the severe virus outbreaks observed in 2018. Serology unveils decades-long contact of the Iberian hare,Lepus granatensis, with myxoma or antigenically-related virus Short title: Serologic myxoma virus retrospective in Iberian hare

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Large-scale assessment of myxomatosis prevalence in European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) 60 years after first outbreak in Spain

Cited by 28 publications

References 37 publications

Myxomatosis and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease: A 30-Year Study of the Occurrence on Commercial Farms in Spain

Myxomatosis and Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease: A 30-Year Study of the Occurrence on Commercial Farms in Spain

Myxoma virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 coinfection in a European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus), Portugal

Serology unveils decades-long contact of the Iberian hare, Lepus granatensis, with myxoma or antigenically-related virus.

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