The presence of cross-reactive antibodies to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in Australian wild rabbits prior to the escape of virus from quarantine

Sera collected from Australian wild rabbits prior to the escape of rabbit h aemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) from Wardang Island were examined for RHDV antibodies using purified recombinant capsid protein VP60 expressed from b aculovirus. A VP60-based indirect ELISA showed that 196 of 392 wild rabbit sera reacted (OD450 > 0 15) With VP60. Twenty sera (OD450 ranging from 0.15 -2.47), randomly chosen from the 196 positive sera, recognized the 64 kDa V P60 ill Western blot analysis, indicating that the reactivity detected in E LISA is indeed specific to the VP60 antigen. In a separate study, sera of 2 3 rabbits from an RHD-free area after the escape of RHDV were tested by ELI SA and 21 of the 23 rabbits were found to be positive. When these rabbits w ere challenged with a lethal dose of RHDV, II out of the 23 rabbits survive d. The presence of RHDV-protective antibodies in some of these rabbits sugg ested that they had been exposed to a pre-existing non-virulent rabbit cali civirus closely related to RHDV. These results highlight the need to study the prevalence of, and to characterize, this viral agent in order to effect ively control rabbit populations in Australia and New Zealand.