Invasive rabbits so numerous they form a “gray blanket” across the land. A killer virus, intentionally released to keep the bunnies at bay. An ensuing evolutionary arms race with no end in sight. It sounds more like the premise of a bad sci fi movie rather than a textbook case of biocontrol. But truth, especially in this case, is stranger and even more fascinating than fiction. If this is the first you’re hearing about myxoma virus and its place in the long history of European rabbits in Australia, get ready for a gripping story filled with rabbit facts, discussions about what drives pathogens to be deadly or benign, and philosophical musings about the situational difference between pest, pet, and keystone species. That’s right, we’re heading deep down the rabbit hole with this one.
| History | Biology |
| Fenner, Frank, and Bernardino Fantini. Biological control of vertebrate pests: the history of myxomatosis, an experiment in evolution. CABI publishing, 1999. | Kerr, P.J., 2012. Myxomatosis in Australia and Europe: a model for emerging infectious diseases. Antiviral research, 93(3), pp.387-415. |
| Rolls, Eric C. They all ran wild: The animals and plants that plague Australia. Angus & Robertson, 1984. | Kerr, P.J., Liu, J., Cattadori, I., Ghedin, E., Read, A.F. and Holmes, E.C., 2015. Myxoma virus and the Leporipoxviruses: An evolutionary paradigm. Viruses, 7(3), pp.1020-1061. |
| Alves, Joel M., et al. “Parallel adaptation of rabbit populations to myxoma virus.” Science 363.6433 (2019): 1319-1326. | Nash, P., Barrett, J., Cao, J.X., Hota‐Mitchell, S., Lalani, A.S., Everett, H., Xu, X.M., Robichaud, J., Hnatiuk, S., Ainslie, C. and Seet, B.T., 1999. Immunomodulation by viruses: the myxoma virus story. Immunological reviews, 168(1), pp.103-120. |
| Bartrip, Peter WJ. “Myxomatosis in 1950s Britain.” Twentieth Century British History 19.1 (2008): 83-105. | Kerr, P.J., Ghedin, E., DePasse, J.V., Fitch, A., Cattadori, I.M., Hudson, P.J., Tscharke, D.C., Read, A.F. and Holmes, E.C., 2012. Evolutionary history and attenuation of myxoma virus on two continents. |
| Kerr, Peter J., et al. “Evolutionary history and attenuation of myxoma virus on two continents.” (2012): e1002950. | Spiesschaert, B., McFadden, G., Hermans, K., Nauwynck, H. and Van de Walle, G.R., 2011. The current status and future directions of myxoma virus, a master in immune evasion. Veterinary research, 42(1), pp.1-18. |
| Kerr, Peter J., et al. “Genome scale evolution of myxoma virus reveals host-pathogen adaptation and rapid geographic spread.” Journal of virology 87.23 (2013): 12900-12915. | Villafuerte, R., Castro, F., Ramírez, E., Cotilla, I., Parra, F., Delibes-Mateos, M., Recuerda, P. and Rouco, C., 2017. Large-scale assessment of myxomatosis prevalence in European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) 60 years after first outbreak in Spain. Research in veterinary science, 114, pp.281-286. |
| Kerr, Peter J., et al. “Myxoma virus and the Leporipoxviruses: An evolutionary paradigm.” Viruses 7.3 (2015): 1020-1061. | Carvalho, C.L., Abade dos Santos, F.A., Monteiro, M., Carvalho, P., Mendonça, P. and Duarte, M.D., 2020. First cases of myxomatosis in Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) in Portugal. Veterinary Record Case Reports, 8(2), p.e001044. |
| Kerr, Peter J., et al. “Genomic and phenotypic characterization of myxoma virus from Great Britain reveals multiple evolutionary pathways distinct from those in Australia.” PLoS pathogens 13.3 (2017): e1006252. | World Organization for Animal Health “Myxomatosis” https://www.oie.int/en/disease/myxomatosis/ |
| Kerr, Peter J., et al. “Next step in the ongoing arms race between myxoma virus and wild rabbits in Australia is a novel disease phenotype.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.35 (2017): 9397-9402. | Summer Rabbit Care, Michigan State University. https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/234/43182/2014_files/4H1440_4-H_RabbitTracks_SummerRabbitCare.pdf |
| Lees, Alexander C., and Diana J. Bell. “A conservation paradox for the 21st century: the European wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, an invasive alien and an endangered native species.” Mammal Review 38.4 (2008): 304-320. | |
| Mahar, Jackie E., et al. “Detection and circulation of a novel rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus in Australia.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 24.1 (2018): 22. | |
| Philip, Justine. “The Institutionalisation of Poison: A historical review of vertebrate pest control in Australia, 1814 to 2018.” Australian Zoologist 40.1 (2019): 129-139. | |
| Richardson, Barry J. “Calicivirus, myxoma virus and the wild rabbit in Australia: a tale of three invasions.” New challenges to health: the threat of virus infection (2001). | |
| Steele, Edward J., et al. “The efficient Lamarckian spread of life in the cosmos.” Advances in Genetics 106 (2020): 21. | |
| Stodart, E., and Ian Parer. Colonisation of Australia by the rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.). Canberra, CSIRO, 1988. | |
| Williams, C. Kent, and R. J. Moore. “Inheritance of Acquired-Immunity to Myxomatosis.” Australian journal of zoology 39.3 (1991): 307-311. |
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