A new CDC report indicates that the incidence of illness in some humans (who were part of a small RCD/RHD health study in Australia ) increased greatly after RCD escaped onto the Australian mainland. RCD or rabbit calicivirus disease
(renamed thus by Australian authorities to be less emotive than the true
name for the disease - rabbit hemorrhagic disease -ref BRS RHD report 1994) escaped onto mainland Australia in September 1995.
The CDC report is now available on the USA CDC website of Emerging Infectious Diseases Volume 4 Number 1 January - March 1998 titled Calicivirus Emergence from Ocean Reservoirs: Zoonotic and Interspecies Movements.
The URL for this report is
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol4no1/smith.htm
and the CDC report is also mirrored at
Rabbit Information Service website
The Australian human health study included blood testing and a health questionnaire of persons with low and high or no exposure to RCD.
Increases in ill health ranged over several symptoms which
included "any illness, flu/fever, diarrhea/gastroenteritis,
neurologic symptoms , rashes/skin and bleeding/hepatitis".
In many cases, incidence of illnesses in those with "High exposure"
to RCD/RHD was nearly double that of those with "Low exposure" in the
two six month periods compared in this test.
The first 6 month period (mentioned in Table 2 of the CDC report) contained the month RCD/RHD escaped from Wardang Island in South Australia (September 1995) and the second six month period lay in the time period when heavy RCD/RHD infestation of the Australian continent was evident after RCD/RHD spread across vast areas by epidemic and human interference.
Australia is allowing the deliberate spread of RCD/RHD as a biological control
agent of wild European rabbits. Dr Brian Walker, a senior CSIRO spokesperson,
stated on "60 Minutes" in 1996 that no guarantees could be given that RCD/RHD
would never infect any other species. The Australian Government has written that
the "benefits [of spreading RCD/RHD] outweigh the risks [of potential
infection / danger to other species]". Recent reports by South Australian
environmentalist Mr John Wamsley and recent reports from Tasmania, indicate that
native animals have already died from infection by RCD/RHD based on visual
observation (whole colonies of native animals died as RHD swept through areas of Australia).
The CDC report (Calicivirus Emergence from Ocean Reservoirs: Zoonotic and Interspecies Movements) has the following preamble :
"Caliciviral infections in humans, among the most common causes of viral-induced vomiting and diarrhea, are caused by the Norwalk group of small round structured viruses, the Sapporo caliciviruses, and the hepatitis E agent. Human caliciviruses have been resistant to in vitro cultivation, and direct study of their origins and reservoirs outside infected humans or water and foods (such as shellfish contaminated with human sewage) has been difficult. Modes of transmission, other than direct fecal-oral routes, are not well understood.
In contrast, animal viruses found in ocean reservoirs, which make up a second calicivirus group, can be cultivated in vitro. These viruses can emerge and infect terrestrial hosts, including humans. This article reviews the history of animal caliciviruses, their eventual recognition as zoonotic agents, and their potential usefulness as a predictive model for noncultivatable human and other animal caliciviruses (e.g., those seen in association with rabbit hemorrhagic disease). "
The report is vital reading to those interested in the future health of all
species in Australia.
End
Click here to return to front page