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Large-scale lagovirus disease outbreaks in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in France caused by RHDV2 strains spatially shared with rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

ABSTRACT: Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a lagovirus that causes rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In 2010, a new genotype called RHDV2 emerged in France. It exhibits a larger host range than classical RHDV strains by sporadically infecting different hare species, including the European hare (Lepus europaeus). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that closely related RHDV2 strains circulate locally in both hares and rabbits, and therefore that RHDV2 strains infecting hares do not belong to a lineage that has evolved only in this species. We showed that RHDV2 is widely distributed in France and that it was responsible for more than a third of cases of lagovirus disease in European hare populations in 2015. The oldest RHDV2 positive hare was sampled in November 2013 and we reported two hares co-infected by EBHSV and RHDV2. All together, our results raise important epidemiological and evolutionary issues. In particular, along with the potential emergence of recombinant EBHSV/RHDV2 strains in hares, the enlargement of the host range changes the host population structure of RHDV2 and may alter the impact of the virus on rabbit and hare populations.

SUBMITTER: Le Gall-Recule G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5660455 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Large-scale lagovirus disease outbreaks in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in France caused by RHDV2 strains spatially shared with rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Le Gall-Reculé Ghislaine G Lemaitre Evelyne E Bertagnoli Stéphane S Hubert Céline C Top Sokunthea S Decors Anouk A Marchandeau Stéphane S Guitton Jean-Sébastien JS

Veterinary research 20171028 1

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a lagovirus that causes rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In 2010, a new genotype called RHDV2 emerged in France. It exhibits a larger host range than classical RHDV strains by sporadically infecting different hare species, including the European hare (Lepus europaeus). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that closely related RHDV2 strains circulate locally in both hares and rabbits, and therefore that RHDV2 stra ...[more]

PMID: 29080562

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Project description:BackgroundPrior to 2010, the lagoviruses that cause rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) in hares (Lepus spp.) were generally genus-specific. However, in 2010, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2), also known as Lagovirus europaeus GI.2, emerged and had the distinguishing ability to cause disease in both rabbits and certain hare species. The mountain hare (Lepus timidus) is native to Sweden and is susceptible to European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV), also called Lagovirus europaeus GII.1. While most mountain hare populations are found on the mainland, isolated populations also exist on islands. Here we investigate a mortality event in mountain hares on the small island of Hallands Väderö where other leporid species, including rabbits, are absent.ResultsPost-mortem and microscopic examination of three mountain hare carcasses collected from early November 2016 to mid-March 2017 revealed acute hepatic necrosis consistent with pathogenic lagovirus infection. Using immunohistochemistry, lagoviral capsid antigen was visualized within lesions, both in hepatocytes and macrophages. Genotyping and immunotyping of the virus independently confirmed infection with L. europaeus GI.2, not GII.1. Phylogenetic analyses of the vp60 gene grouped mountain hare strains together with a rabbit strain from an outbreak of GI.2 in July 2016, collected approximately 50 km away on the mainland.ConclusionsThis is the first documented infection of GI.2 in mountain hares and further expands the host range of GI.2. Lesions and tissue distribution mimic those of GII.1 in mountain hares. The virus was most likely initially introduced from a concurrent, large-scale GI.2 outbreak in rabbits on the adjacent mainland, providing another example of how readily this virus can spread. The mortality event in mountain hares lasted for at least 4.5 months in the absence of rabbits, which would have required virus circulation among mountain hares, environmental persistence and/or multiple introductions. This marks the fourth Lepus species that can succumb to GI.2 infection, suggesting that susceptibility to GI.2 may be common in Lepus species. Measures to minimize the spread of GI.2 to vulnerable Lepus populations therefore are prudent.

Dataset Information

Large-scale lagovirus disease outbreaks in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in France caused by RHDV2 strains spatially shared with rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Publications

Large-scale lagovirus disease outbreaks in European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) in France caused by RHDV2 strains spatially shared with rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Similar Datasets

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