A NEW VARIANT OF THE VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC-DISEASE OF RABBITS VIRUS

A new variant of viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits (VHD) virus, re cently detected in Poland and called Blaszki (BLA), gives positive res ults in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and exhibits viral p rotein of 60 kilodaltons (VP 60), as detected by Western blot analysis . This BLA variant of VHD virus has caused high morbidity and mortalit y in rabbits, as have other reported variants with similar clinical si gns and pathological lesions, but - in contrast to other variants - th e BLA variant gave negative results in the haemagglutination rest. Thi s development indicates the limitations of haemagglutination testing i n the diagnosis of VHD.