Detection of RHDV strains in the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis): earliest evidence of rabbit lagovirus cross-species infection

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a highly lethal Lagovirus, family Caliciviridae, that threatens European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Although a related virus severely affects hares, cross-species infection was only recently described for new variant RHDV in Cape hares (Lepus capensis mediterraneus). We sequenced two strains from dead Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) collected in the 1990s in Portugal. Clinical signs were compatible with a Lagovirus infection. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete capsid gene positioned them in the RHDV genogroup that circulated on the Iberian Peninsula at that time. This is the earliest evidence of RHDV affecting a species other than European rabbits.This work was supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; research project ref.: FCT-ANR/BIABIC/0043/2012). FCT also supported the doctoral grants of AML and AP (refs.: SFRH/BD/78738/2011 and SFRH/BD/71252/2010) and the FCT Investigator grant of JA (ref.: IF/01396/2013). “Genomics Applied To Genetic Resources” co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), also supported this work.Peer Reviewe