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RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Problems with Fenner and Marshall’s method of estimating myxoma virus virulence delayed a closer understanding of rabbit-virus coevolution

Brian Cooke https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7430-1824 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Rabbit Free Australia, PO Box 145, Collinswood, SA 5081, Australia.

* Correspondence to: briancooke.rfa@gmail.com

Historical Records of Australian Science https://doi.org/10.1071/HR24010
Published online: 4 October 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science.

Abstract

When myxoma virus was first released in Australia it was seen not only as a means of controlling rabbits but also an opportunity to understand the evolution of a disease in a new host. The virus quickly attenuated into less virulent variants while simultaneously rabbits built heritable resistance to the disease. Nonetheless, rather than rabbits quickly outstripping virus virulence, myxoma viruses have adapted and kept pace with increases in rabbit resistance by increasing in virulence and other attributes necessary for remaining highly transmissible. As well as benefitting the biological control of pest rabbits, this previously unrevealed chapter details the evolution of myxomatosis while also documenting the delays in reaching a consensus on the coevolution of myxoma virus virulence and rabbit resistance.

Keywords: biological arms race, European rabbit, European rabbit fleas, evolution, myxoma virus, Oryctolagus cuniculus, resistance, virus lineages.

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