Genetical characteristic of six strains of RHD (rabbit haemorrhagic disease) virus originating from Europe

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a noncultivable calicivirus that infect rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and cause epidemics in population of those animals across whole the world. The phylogenetic analysis of different strains of RHDV originated from different countries showed that homology of nucleotide sequences is 92-100%. The aim of the study was genetic characteristic of six Central European strains of RHD virus (Eisenhuttenstadt, Frankfurt, Rossi, V411, 24/89, 1447/96) on the basis on molecular analysis of a 510 bp fragment, coding N-terminal and 320bp fragment coding C-terminal part of structural VP60. The analysis was conducted to lead to determine the phylogenetic dependence of chosen RHD strains. The analysis of six European strains of RHD virus showed that the changeability of those strains is low, ranging from 1 to 11%.