Biosecurity South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Mol Ecol. 2012 Mar;21(5):1038-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05466.x. Epub 2012 Jan 31.
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a highly virulent lagovirus endemic in Europe and Australasian populations of the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. It has also caused several unexplained disease outbreaks in domestic European rabbits in North America. Non-pathogenic spread of RHDV leading to persistent infection which later reactivated has recently been proposed as the cause of overt disease and death of a pet rabbit in Canada, the first confirmed case of Rabbit haemorrhagic disease in that country. We suggest that there is little evidence to support non-pathogenic spread of virulent RHDV, some evidence that is contradictory, and evidence to support a simpler alternative hypothesis. RHDV can be spread over long distances between sparse rabbit populations by fomites or flying insects. Although highly pathogenic, RHDV can be limited in its spread within rabbit populations, or its presence masked by closely related but non-pathogenic lagoviruses which can provide protection against acute disease. In the absence of any evidence from clinical studies to support reactivation of persistent RHDV infection, the simpler explanation seems more likely to be correct.
兔出血症病毒（RHDV）是一种高致病性的长尾病毒，在欧洲和澳大拉西亚的欧洲兔（Oryctolagus cuniculus）种群中流行。它还导致北美一些家养欧洲兔发生了几起不明原因的疾病暴发。最近提出，RHDV 的非致病性传播导致持续感染，随后重新激活，是导致加拿大一只宠物兔明显疾病和死亡的原因，这是该国首例确诊的兔出血症病例。我们认为，几乎没有证据支持高致病性 RHDV 的非致病性传播，有一些相互矛盾的证据，还有证据支持一个更简单的替代假设。RHDV 可以通过媒介物或飞行昆虫在稀疏的兔群之间远距离传播。尽管具有高度致病性，但 RHDV 在兔群中的传播可能受到限制，或者其存在可能被密切相关但非致病性的长尾病毒所掩盖，这些病毒可以提供对急性疾病的保护。在没有临床研究证据支持持续性 RHDV 感染重新激活的情况下，更简单的解释似乎更有可能是正确的。
