A new rabbit calicivirus related to the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) was identified. The new virus contains significant differences from the previously characterized RHDV isolates in terms of pathogenicity, viral titer, tropism, and primary sequence of the structural protein. Cross-protection experiments, antigenic data, and sequence comparisons demonstrate that the new virus is more closely related to RHDV than to the European brown hare syndrome virus, another member of the caliciviruses of the lagomorph group. The existence of a nonpathogenic calicivirus, which we propose to name rabbit calicivirus (RCV), provides an explanation for the early discrepancies found in the course of serological surveys of the rabbit population in European countries.

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(16), and the Czech Republic (33). In addition, wild living species such as red deer (34) or wild boar (16,27) infected with M. caprae may constitute a reservoir for resurgent TB in domestic animals. Human infections with M. caprae appear to be rare on a worldwide or a Europe-wide scale nowadays, due to the eradication campaigns and preventive measures taken against transmission of bovine TB in the last century. They primarily manifest in older individuals (31). However, in central European regions where M. caprae is the major cause of TB in cattle, it is also the predominant agent of "bovine TB" in humans (25,34). Interestingly, genomic deletion analyses using large panels of MTC isolates (6, 29) suggested that both new MTC members have phylogenetically preceded M. bovis.Genotyping techniques developed for MTC members have extended our understanding of the natural history of TB and have become an essential tool in TB epidemiology (47). This applies likewise to analyses of TB transmission among livestock (32) or between livestock and reservoir species such as badgers, possums, or deer (7). IS6110 restriction fragment

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To estimate the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in the Alpine region, we studied the epidemiology of Mycobacterium caprae in wildlife during the 2009–2012 hunting seasons. Free-ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus) were a maintenance host in a hot-spot area, mainly located in Austria.