Monoclonal antibodies to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus and their use in the diagnosis of infection

Abstract

Hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) were prepared. Using Western blot (WB) analysis, the MAbs obtained were divided into two groups, one reacting with the major structural proteins of Mr 61K and 38K, and the other giving negative reactions. Both groups of MAbs, however, reacted specifically with RHDV in ELISA and by immunoperoxidase (IP) and immunofluorescence (IF) tests with infected ceils. As demonstrated by WB using RHDV-specific MAbs and a MAb to feline calicivirus (FCV) strain F9, the major structural (capsid) proteins of RHDV and FCV have very similar sizes (Mr 61K and 38K compared to 62K to 64K and 40K respectively). No cross-reactions of MAbs with proteins of the other virus were observed in WB analysis, ELISA, IP tests or IF. The high specificity and sensitivity of RHDV-specific MAbs make them suitable for the routine IP and IF diagnosis of RHDV in liver cells of rabbits dying after natural or experimental infections.

Long-term survival of New Zealand rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus RNA in wild rabbits, revealed by RT-PCR and phylogenetic analysis

“…The area from which the rabbits were obtained showed no evidence of any RHDV epidemic at the time of collection (unpublished data). Therefore, the rabbits have either been carrying the viral RNA since the last epidemic or, as was suggested previously, there is a virus circulating that does not cause severe morbidity and mortality (Capucci et al, 1998;Chasey et al, 1997;Rodak et al, 1990;Trout et al, 1997). One possible explanation is that RHDV establishes a persistent infection in rabbits.…”

Identification of Genogroup I and Genogroup II Broadly Reactive Epitopes on the Norovirus Capsid

“…This dichotomy of responses is also seen in the animal caliciviruses. Neutralizing and nonneutralizing antibodies to feline calicivirus (5,26,30,33) and canine calicivirus (25) map to a hypervariable region in the C-terminal half of the capsid protein similar to the P2 domain of noroviruses, while antibodies to rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus predominantly map to the N terminus of the capsid protein (24,32,35). The reason for this polarization in localization of antibody epitopes requires further study to better predict how to produce antibodies that will be useful in diagnostic assays or possibly protective in volunteers.…”

Epidemiological consequences of a pathogen having both virulent and avirulent modes of transmission: the case of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus

“…Consistent with this, there is a geographical trend of mean seroprevalence decreasing from north to south, and it is in the south where the majority of lethal outbreaks have occurred. Furthermore, most UK populations had much higher seroprevalence than mainland European populations (where 12, 19 and 46% have been reported [12,22]), which may explain the much lesser impact of RHDV in the United Kingdom compared to other infected countries.…”

“…Outbreaks killed 140 million farmed rabbits in China in 1984 [7], 64 million farmed rabbits in Italy in 1986 [8] and 30 million wild rabbits in Australia in just a few weeks following its release in 1995 [6]. However, immunity to RHDV has been found in the absence of signs of disease in both wild and captive populations from a number of locations, including the former Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Sweden [9][10][11][12][13]. Seroprevalence was particularly high in the United Kingdom, with a mean of 64 % and a maximum of 100 % [14,15].…”

“…Seroprevalence was particularly high in the United Kingdom, with a mean of 64 % and a maximum of 100 % [14,15]. It has been proposed that this immunity may be due to a non-pathogenic strain of RHDV [10][11][12][13][14], such as that isolated from a rabbitry in Italy in 1996 [9,16].…”