Detection and characterisation of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus strains circulating in Egypt

Abstract

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a highly virulent viral disease of Oryctolagus cuniculus which threatens the rabbit population in Egypt and worldwide. The etiological agent is the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), a member of the family Caliciviridae. The aim of this study was to identify the possible evolutionary changes of the currently circulating RHDV in Egypt. Twenty suspected cases were collected from outbreaks that occurred in non-vaccinated rabbit flocks during 2015 and 2016. Liver homogenate samples were investigated for detection and identification of circulating RHDV using haemagglutination (HA) and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Further characterisation of selected five viral strains was performed by nucleotide sequencing of VP60 gene. All twenty tested samples were haemagglutinin positive and VP60 gene was amplified. Based on nucleotide sequence analysis, four isolates were identified as classical RHDV strains, while one isolate was assigned as RHDVa variant strain but with the same HA pattern. The new RHDVb variant was not identified.