The Commonwealth Scientific
and lndustrial Research
Organisation believes that a
virus closely related to the
rabbit calicivirus disease
could be giving some rabbits
immunity to the biological
weapon trained on them.
Dr Tony Robinson, of
CSIRO's Division of Wildlife
and Ecology, believes that a
"benign" virus similar to
RCD could be protecting
some rabbits in the way that
cow pox protected l8th cen
tury dairymaids against
smallpox. If he is right, this
"benign" virus could explain
why RCD has failed to gain
a foothold in some parts of
Australia.
Dr Robinson has been testing
blood samples collected
from rabbits around Cooma
in 1994 and 1995. The sam
ples were taken before the
accidental release of RCD
from its island quarantine
testing station off the South
Australian coast in October
1995.
To his suprise, he found
that 11 of the 40 samples
tested positive to RCD. How
ever, he said the test could
not distinguish between RCD
and close relatives of it.
Since no Australian
rabbits had shown any clinical
signs of RCD before the
1995 release, the Cooma
rabbits probably had been
carrying a non-lethal relative
of the disease. "There's
definitely no suggestion that
RCD was present in Australia
prior to the accidental
release," he said.
He said Italian researchers,
had isolated a non-lethal virus
similar to RCD from samples
collected there and
that virus could have infected
Australian rabbits. There
was evidence also of a non-
lethal virus circulating in
other parts of Europe.
Dr Robinson is conducting
further research in collaboration
with NSW Agriculture
to determine how widespread
the pre-existing benign infection
was before 1995.
He said the non-lethal infection
could explain RCD's mixed
results. RCD is estimated to have
wiped out about half the rabbit population,
which previously stood at 300 million.
Its kill rate in the arid zone has been
astronomical but it has been less
effective in wetter areas.
End
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