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The antibody response in serum and the reproductive tract of female rabbits to a model antigen, influenza virus haemagglutinin (HA), encoded by a recombinant myxoma virus was investigated. Strong and lasting IgG antibody responses...
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The antibody response in serum and the reproductive tract of female rabbits to a model antigen, influenza virus haemagglutinin (HA), encoded by a recombinant myxoma virus was investigated. Strong and lasting IgG antibody responses to HA were induced in serum following intradermal, intranasal, and intravaginal immunisations. HA IgG was also detected in reproductive tract fluids but was only about 1% the titer of that in serum. HA IgA was not detected in serum of any infected groups and was occasionally detected in reproductive tract fluids at a low titer only after infections through mucosal sites. HA IgM was also detected only in some of the reproductive tract fluids at very low levels. Induction of ovulation did not change these patterns and B cell homing to the reproductive tract was not profound. In contrast, HA IgG and IgM titers in ovarian follicular fluids were comparable to that in serum. These data suggest that if this virus is used to deliver an immunocontraceptive vaccine that requires a high-level antibody response, the target antigen needs to be accessible to serum antibody or in the ovary.
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In this study, we investigated the autoimmune response in rabbit ovaries following infection with a recombinant myxoma vims expressing rabbit zona pellucida protein B (MV-ZPB). A specific IgG antibody response to ZPB was elicited ...
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In this study, we investigated the autoimmune response in rabbit ovaries following infection with a recombinant myxoma vims expressing rabbit zona pellucida protein B (MV-ZPB). A specific IgG antibody response to ZPB was elicited in the serum of infected rabbits and the antibody strongly bound to the zona pellucida of oocytes in secondary and tertiary follicles. T cell infiltration in the ovary was detected in a small proportion of the infected rabbits. In spite of this, the mean number of preovulatory and tertiary follicles in the ovary was significantly reduced at 30 days postinfection compared with that of the infected and uninfected controls. Histological analysis revealed that the cortex and medulla of these ovaries had accumulated a large number of probably luteinized cells and there were no follicles in these areas, indicating the ovaries were in a severe pathological condition. The data suggest that the delivery of ZP antigens using a recombinant myxoma vims is a prospective way to develop immunocontraceptive vaccines for rabbit population control, but that more understanding of the kinetics of the autoimmune response induced by viral delivery is needed. ? 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Myxomatosis is an emergent disease in the Iberian hare, having been considered a rabbit disease for decades. Genome sequencing of the strains obtained from Iberian hares with myxomatosis showed these to be distinct from the classi...
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Myxomatosis is an emergent disease in the Iberian hare, having been considered a rabbit disease for decades. Genome sequencing of the strains obtained from Iberian hares with myxomatosis showed these to be distinct from the classical ones that circulated in rabbits since the virus introduction in Europe, in 1952. The main genomic difference in this natural recombinant hare myxoma virus (ha-MYXV) is the presence of an additional 2.8 kb region disrupting the M009L gene and adding a set of genes homologous to the myxoma virus (MYXV) genes M060R, M061R, M064R, M065R and M066R originated in Poxviruses. After the emergence of this recombinant virus (ha-MYXV) in hares, in the summer of 2019, the ha-MYXV was not detected in rabbit surveys, suggesting an apparent species segregation with the MYXV classic strains persistently circulating in rabbits. Recently, a group of six unvaccinated European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus cuniculus) from a backyard rabbitry in South Portugal developed signs of myxomatosis (anorexia, dyspnoea, oedema of eyelids, head, ears, external genitals and anus, and skin myxomas in the base of the ears). Five of them died within 24-48 hr of symptom onset. Molecular analysis revealed that only the recombinant MYXV was present. This is the first documented report of a recombinant hare myxoma virus in farm rabbits associated with high mortality, which increases the concern for the future of both the Iberian hare and wild rabbits and questions the safety of the rabbit industry. This highlights the urgent need to evaluate the efficacy of available vaccines against this new MYXV.
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Virus-encoded immune evasion mechanisms provide information on viral pathogenesis and offer a unique opportunity to identify new strategies of immune modulation. Secreted proteins that bind a broad range of chemokines have been id...
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Virus-encoded immune evasion mechanisms provide information on viral pathogenesis and offer a unique opportunity to identify new strategies of immune modulation. Secreted proteins that bind a broad range of chemokines have been identified in recent years in poxviruses and herpesviruses. We discuss the properties of these viral chemokine inhibitors and their potential as new therapeutics to treat human inflammatory diseases.
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Abstract 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 po...
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Abstract 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 collected over two time periods almost two decades apart, 1994–1999 and 2017–2019 for the presence of antibodies and MYXV‐DNA. First, we screened all serum samples using a rabbit commercial indirect ELISA (iELISA) and then tested a subset of these samples in parallel using indirect immunofluorescence test (IFT), competitive ELISA (cELISA) and qPCR targeting M000.5L/R gene conserved in MYXV and ha‐MYXV. The cut‐off of iELISA relative index 10?=?6.1 was selected from a semiparametric finite mixture analysis aiming to minimize the probability of false positive results. Overall, MYXV related‐antibodies were detected in 57 hares (12.6%) including 38 apparently healthy hares (n?=?10, sampled in 1994–1999, none MYXV‐DNA positive, and n?=?28 sampled in 2017–2019 of which four were also ha‐MYXV‐DNA positive) and 19 found‐dead and ha‐MYXV‐DNA‐positive sampled in 2018–2019. Interestingly, four seronegative hares sampled in 1997 were MYXV‐DNA positive by qPCR, the result being confirmed by sequencing of three of them. For the Iberian hares hunted or live trapped (both apparently health), 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?=?.009). Within the second period, seroprevalence was significantly higher in 2019 compared to 2017 (24.7?vs 1.7% considering all the sample, p?=?.007), and lower during the winter than the autumn (p?.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 1996, they also show an increase in seroprevalence in 2018–2019. The remote contact with MYXV may have occurred with strains that circulated in rabbits, or with unnoticed strains already circulating in Iberian hare populations. This work strongly suggests the infection of Iberian hares with MYXV or an antigenically related virus, at least 20 years before the severe virus outbreaks were registered in 2018.
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Additional methods are needed in Australia to control the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, which continues to destroy valued native flora. A control option under development, immunocontraception, is intended to suppress the ...
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Additional methods are needed in Australia to control the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, which continues to destroy valued native flora. A control option under development, immunocontraception, is intended to suppress the rabbit's high fertility. It would spread contagiously via genetically modified myxoma virus and European rabbit fleas Spilopsyllus cuniculi. An experiment with field populations of rabbits assessed whether suppressing fertility reduces their abundance. In south-eastern Australia, four treatments in three replicates were applied to 12 subpopulations of rabbits. The treatments were surgical sterilization of 0%, 40%, 60% and 80% of the adult and juvenile females trapped before the annual breeding seasons of 1993-96. The sterilized populations produced fewer young but the average adult population size remained unchanged in all treatments. Immigration was minimal in all treatments. Sterilized adult female rabbits survived much better than fertile females, indicating a high cost of reproduction. Immature rabbits and unsterilized adults of both sexes also survived better in the sterilization treatments. The improved survival in all rabbit classes compensated for reduced reproductive output. Fleas were fewer on both adult females and males in the sterilized populations but this did not impede transmission of myxomatosis. Synthesis and applications. Imposing sterility on rabbit populations reduces breeding-season peaks of abundance. Improved survival compensates for the sterility of up to 80% of females and sustains populations, even in the presence of drought and myxomatosis. Immunocontraception alone has poor prospects for controlling rabbits. Cost-effective rabbit control requires multiple, integrated forms of attrition.
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European wild rabbits originated in southwestern Europe but have been introduced into many other countries world-wide, becoming serious pests in many instances. As a consequence of rabbits being regarded so differently, applied re...
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European wild rabbits originated in southwestern Europe but have been introduced into many other countries world-wide, becoming serious pests in many instances. As a consequence of rabbits being regarded so differently, applied research for their management often has opposing goals, namely their conservation or their control. Furthermore, modern gene technology has led to the concept of using genetically modified myxoma viruses for rabbit management, again with quite contrary aims in mind. In this paper we explain the possible ecological and economic consequences of using these genetically modified viruses inappropriately and we consider whether national and international regulations are sufficient to prevent improper use. If international regulations are inadequate, molecular biologists and ecologists must consider the consequences of their research and advice beyond their own country to avoid unwanted impacts. [References: 43]
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Wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Australia are the descendents of 24 animals from England released in 1859. We surveyed rabbits and rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) in Australia for the presence of trypanosomes using pa...
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Wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Australia are the descendents of 24 animals from England released in 1859. We surveyed rabbits and rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) in Australia for the presence of trypanosomes using parasitological and PCR-based methods. Trypanosomes were detected in blood from the European rabbits by microscopy, and PCR using trypanosome-specific small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene primers and those in rabbit fleas by PCR. This is the first record of trypanosomes from rabbits in Australia. We identified these Australian rabbit trypanosomes as Trypanosoma nabiasi, the trypanosome of the European rabbit, by comparison of morphology and SSU rRNA gene sequences of Australian and European rabbit trypanosomes. Phylogenetic analysis places T. nabiasi in a clade with rodent trypanosomes in the subgenus Herpetosoma and their common link appears to be transmission by fleas. Despite the strict host specificity of trypanosomes in this clade, phylogenies presented here suggest that they have not strictly cospeciated with their vertebrate hosts. We suggest that T. nabiasi was inadvertently introduced into Australia in the 1960s in its flea vector Spilopsyllus cuniculi, which was deliberately introduced as a potential vector of the myxoma virus. In view of the environmental and economic damage caused by rabbits in Australia and other islands, the development of a virulent or genetically modified T. nabiasi should be considered to control rabbits.
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