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Viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits and human health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1998

J. A. CARMAN ,
M. G. GARNER ,
M. G. CATTON ,
S. THOMAS ,
H. A. WESTBURY ,
R. M. CANNON ,
B. J. COLLINS  and
I. G. TRIBE
J. A. CARMAN
Affiliation:
Communicable Disease Control Branch, South Australian, Department of Human Services, PO Box 6, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000
M. G. GARNER
Affiliation:
Bureau of Resource Sciences, PO Box E11, Kingston, ACT, 2604
M. G. CATTON
Affiliation:
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield Hospital, PO Box 65, Fairfield, Victoria, 3078
S. THOMAS
Affiliation:
Bureau of Resource Sciences, PO Box E11, Kingston, ACT, 2604
H. A. WESTBURY
Affiliation:
Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria, 3213
R. M. CANNON
Affiliation:
Bureau of Resource Sciences, PO Box E11, Kingston, ACT, 2604
B. J. COLLINS
Affiliation:
Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria, 3213
I. G. TRIBE
Affiliation:
Communicable Disease Control Branch, South Australian, Department of Human Services, PO Box 6, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000
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Abstract

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Viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits (VHD), a potential biological control for wild rabbits in Australia and New Zealand, escaped from quarantined field trials on Wardang Island and spread to the mainland of Australia in October 1995. This study looked for any evidence of infection or illness in people occupationally exposed to the virus. Two hundred and sixty-nine people were interviewed and 259 blood samples were collected. Exposures to VHD-infected rabbits ranged from nil to very high. No VHD antibodies were detected in any of the 259 sera when tested by VHD competitive enzyme immunoassay, which had been validated with 1013 VHDV-specific antibody negative sera. A questionnaire designed to elicit symptoms of disease in a range of organ systems found no significant differences between illness in those exposed and those not exposed to VHD, nor could an association be found between exposure and subsequent episodes of illness. The findings are consistent with the view that exposure to VHD is not associated with infection or disease in humans.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 121 , Issue 2 , October 1998 , pp. 409 - 418
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press