Resumen de Diagnóstico mediante PCR-duplex de la nueva variante RHDVb del virus de la enfermedad hemorrágica en conejos.
P. Sarto, Jorge Hugo Calvo Lacosta, A.J. Calvo, F. Monroy, C. Calvete
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a virulent calicivirus that causes high mortality both in domestic and wild rabbits. In this work, two RHDV strains were detected. The first one viral strain had been previously isolated and belonged to viral Lineage I which includes all RHDV isolates found in the Iberian Peninsula to date (classical strain). The second one was the new variant RHDVb. A duplex PCR using specific primers for the two viral strains was developed to increase the sensibility and specificity of the diagnosis. Then, duplex PCR was used to recording, from 2009 to 2012, the variation of prevalence of both viral strains in rabbits dead by RHD in an experimental wild rabbit population. Results showed an evident predominance of the new variant across time, with no detection of the classical strain in 2012, one year after the first report of the new variant. Since wild rabbit populations are the main reservoir of RHD virus for domestic rabbits, it seems necessary and urgent the inclusion of the RHDVb valency in commercial vaccines against RHD.
