Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T11:40:02.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Myxomatosis: the transmission of a highly virulent strain of myxoma virus by the European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) in the Mallee region of Victoria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

Rosamond C. H. Shepherd  and
J. W. Edmonds
Rosamond C. H. Shepherd
Affiliation:
Keith Turnbull Research Institute, Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board, Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Frankston, Victoria 3199, Australia
J. W. Edmonds
Affiliation:
Keith Turnbull Research Institute, Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board, Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Frankston, Victoria 3199, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) was introduced into Australia to act as a vector of myxoma virus. It was first released in the semi-arid Mallee region of Victoria in 1970 where epizootics caused by field strains of myxoma virus occur each summer. Introductions of the readily identified Lausanne strain were made annually following the release of the flea. The introductions were successful and the strain persisted for up to 16 weeks despite competition from field strains.

The Lausanne strain is more readily spread by fleas than the Glenfield strain which has been widely used in rabbit control. The ability of the Lausanne strain to persist and its effective transmission compared with the Glenfield strain may be due in part to the more florid symptoms of the disease.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , December 1977 , pp. 405 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

References

REFERENCES

Andrewes, C. H., Thompson, H. V. & Mansi, W. (1959). Myxomatosis: present position and future prospects in Great Britain. Nature, London 184, 1179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bull, L. B. & Mules, M. W. (1944). An investigation of Myxomatosis cuniculi with special reference to the possible use of the disease to control rabbit populations in Australia. Journal of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 17, 79.Google Scholar
Fenner, F., Poole, W. E., Marshall, I. D. & Dyce, A. L. (1957). Studies in the epidemiology of infectious myxomatosis of rabbits. VI. The experimental introduction of the European strain of myxoma virus into Australian wild rabbit populations. Journal of Hygiene 55, 192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenner, F. & Ratcliffe, F. N. (1965). Myxomatosis. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mead-Briggs, A. R. & Vaughan, J. A. (1975). The differential transmissibility of myxoma virus strains of differing virulence grades by the rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale). Journal of Hygiene 75, 237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Service, M. W. (1971). A reappraisal of the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of myxomatosis in Britain. Journal of Hygiene 69, 105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepherd, Rosamond C. H. & Edmonds, J. W. (1976). The establishment and spread of Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) and its location on the host, Oryctolagus cuniculi (L), in the Mallee region of Victoria. Australian Wildlife Research 3, 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sobey, W. R. & Menzies, W. (1969). Myxomatosis: the introduction of the European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) into Australia. Australian Journal of Science 31, 404.Google Scholar