Crossing Boundaries: How the Rabbit Virus Myxoma Invaded a New Species According To Study

A new study looks at the spread of the myxoma virus from European rabbits to Iberian hares.

The study not only sheds fresh insight on species-jumping viruses but also suggested that the protein that allowed the species to leap from rabbits to hares may help enhance myxoma as a cancer-fighting agent.

Myxoma virus on rabbits

(Photo : ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Myxomatosis is a serious rabbit illness caused by the myxoma virus, a kind of poxvirus (MV).

MV produces a rather moderate disease in its natural host, South America, but it causes a serious disease with substantial mortality in other species of rabbits and hares, particularly European rabbits.

Masmudur Rahman and his Arizona State University coworkers' issued around the world researchers in new research published in the journal mBio to explore one, such spillover occurrence, when the myxoma virus (MYXV) made a species leap from European rabbits to Iberian hares.

The paper identifies M159, a viral protein known as a "host range factor" that emerged relatively recently as a result of a chance gene pickup in the myxoma virus, as per ScienceDaily.

MYXV-Tol, the resulting hybrid strain, has allowed the virus to spread beyond its current host range, crossing the species barrier and causing deadly illness in Iberian hares.

Researchers want to learn more about these genetic changes because they have far-reaching ramifications for both animal and human health.

Knowing the small changes that allow pathogens to make species leaps may help researchers better plan for outbreaks of novel illnesses, limit their transmission, and maybe circumvent viral systems that create the ground for spillover occurrences.

Human-engineered therapeutics for diseases (including viruses) are part of an ongoing arms race between infectious agents and their hosts.

Aside from its significance in the study of host-pathogen coevolution, the myxoma virus has indeed been studied for its amazing capacity to target and destroy human cancer cells while leaving normal healthy cell counterparts unscathed.

It is one of the most promising viruses in the emerging discipline of virotherapy, which employs cancer-fighting or oncolytic viruses such as myxoma.

Also Read: Deadly "Ebola-Like" Disease for Rabbits is Spreading and it's Killing Them Fast

Myxomatosis

Myxoma is derived from the Greek word for mucus and pertains to a connective tissue tumor that is generally encased in mucus.

The illness is distinguished by the appearance of tumors on the infected animals' faces and limbs, as per the World Organization For Animal Health.

It is one of two Lagomorpha (mammal family that includes rabbits, hares, and pikas) illnesses mentioned in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, and Member Countries and Territories are obligated to report outbreaks of the disease in accordance with the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

The condition causes skin nodules, as is typical with poxviruses.

These first emerge at the site of infection, followed by swelling around the eyes (large head illness) and genitals, and the development of secondary skin lesions.

At the same time, substantial immune suppression can occur, allowing secondary bacterial infections to occur, therefore indications of pneumonia are prevalent.

The animal gets despondent as the disease develops, and death from pneumonia generally occurs between the ninth and fifteenth days with the deadliest strains of MV.