SUSCEPTIBILITY OF HARES AND RABBITS TO THE EUROPEAN BROWN HARE SYNDROME VIRUS (EBHSV) AND RABBIT HEMORRHAGIC-DISEASE VIRUS (RHDV) UNDER EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS

The European brown hare syndrome virus (eBHSV) and the rabbit haemorrh agic disease (HDV) virus were inoculated in hares and rabbits to disco ver whether the homologous and heterologous host could be infected. Th e aims were to confirm the results of previous studies that showed the existence of antigenic differences between these two viruses, and als o to define the role attributed to the hare in transmission to rabbits of a disease, EBHS, initially mistaken for RHD. During the trials, cl inical symptoms and pathological lesions were noted, and virological a nd serological analysis were conducted, using specific tests set up fo r both diseases. The hares infected with EBHSV died of an acute form o f EBHS, whereas the rabbits remained healthy. The low serological resp onse in these rabbits towards the EBHSV did not protect them against R HDV. Similarly, hares inoculated with RHDV remained healthy and showed a low anti-RHDV antibody titre but died when challenged with EBHSV.