Pathological and virological insights from an outbreak of European brown hare syndrome in the Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus)

Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbiology

Roberto Nardini¹  Mariagiovanna Domanico¹  Cristina Amoruso¹  Andrea Caprioli¹  Antonella Pizzarelli¹  Claudia Eleni¹  Antonio Battisti¹  Roberta Onorati¹  Valentina Galietta¹  Donatella Stilli¹  Maria Teresa Scicluna¹  Giulia Pacchiarotti¹  Lorenzo Attili¹  Ida Ricci¹  Antonio Lavazza²  Francesca Merzoni²  Patrizia Cavadini²  Giovanni Mastrandrea³  Daniele Cecca³ 

[1] Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri” (IZSLT), Rome, Italy;Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), Brescia, Italy;Segretariato Generale della Presidenza della Repubblica—Servizio Tenuta di Castelporziano, Rome, Italy;

关键词: European brown hare syndrome;    EBHSV;    Lepus corsicanus;    hare;    outbreak;    Lagovirus;    virus characterization;    Italy;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2023.1250787

 received in 2023-06-30, accepted in 2023-10-03,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease, mainly affecting European brown hares (Lepus europaeus). The etiological agent, EBHS virus (EBHSV), belongs to the Lagovirus genus within the Caliciviridae family. The Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) is endemic to Central-Southern Italy and Sicily and is classified as a vulnerable species. L. corsicanus is known to be susceptible to EBHS, but virological data available is scarce due to the few cases detected so far. In this study, we describe the occurrence of EBHS in two free-ranging L. corsicanus, found dead in a protected area of Central Italy. The two hares were identified as L. corsicanus using phenotypic criteria and confirmed through mitochondrial DNA analysis. Distinctive EBHS gross lesions were observed at necropsy and confirmed by subsequent histological examination. EBHSV was detected in the livers of the two animals initially using an antigen detection ELISA, followed by an EBHSV-specific reverse transcription-PCR, thus confirming the viral infection as the probable cause of death. The EBHS viruses detected in the two hares were identical, as based on blast analysis performed for the VP60 sequences and showed 98.86% nucleotide identity and 100% amino acid identity with strain EBHSV/GER-BY/EI97.L03477/2019, isolated in Germany in 2019. Phylogenetic analysis places our virus in group B, which includes strains that emerged after the mid-1980s. This study supports previous reports of EBHS in L. corsicanus and further expands the knowledge of the pathological and virological characteristics of the etiological agent. The ability of EBHSV to cause a fatal disease in the Italian hare represents a serious threat to the conservation of this vulnerable species, especially in populations kept in enclosed protected areas.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Domanico, Cavadini, Nardini, Cecca, Mastrandrea, Eleni, Galietta, Attili, Pizzarelli, Onorati, Amoruso, Stilli, Pacchiarotti, Merzoni, Caprioli, Ricci, Battisti, Lavazza and Scicluna.