European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a highly contagious, acute disease of the European hare (Lepus europeaus) and mountain hare (Lepus timidus) first described in the early 1980s in Northern Europe (Gavier-Widén and Mörner 1991). The aetiology of EBHS remained unclear until it was shown through animal experiments and electron microscopy (EM) analysis (Eskens and Volmer 1989; Lavazza and Vecchi 1989) that it is caused by a non-enveloped positive-strand RNA virus with a diameter of about 32–35 nm, showing morphological characteristics indistinguishable from those of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) (Capucci et al. 1991) and biochemical features typical of the Caliciviridae family (Wirblich et al. 1994). EBHSV is composed of a single-stranded RNA of about 7.5 kb and a subgenomic RNA of 2.2 kb in length. It has a single major capsid protein of approximately 60 kD that shares epitopes with the capsid protein of RHDV (Wirblich et al. 1994) and haemagglutinates human group O red blood cells (Gavier-Widén and Mörner 1991).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bascunana CR, Nowotny N, Belak S (1997) Detection and differentiation of rabbit hemorrhagic disease and European brown hare syndrome viruses by amplification of VP60 genomic sequences from fresh and fixed tissue specimens. J Clin Microbiol 35:2492–2495.
Cancellotti FM, Renzi M (1991) Epidemiology and current situation of viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits and the European brown hare syndrome in Italy. Rev Scie Techn OIE 10:409–420.
Capucci L, Scicluna MT, Lavazza A (1991) Diagnosis of viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits and the European brown hare syndrome. Rev Scie Techn OIE 10:347–370.
Capucci L, Frigoli G, Rønsholt L, Lavazza A, Brocchi E, Rossi C (1995) Antigenicity of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus studied by its reactivity with monoclonal antibodies. Virus Res 37:221–238.
Capucci L, Fusi P, Lavazza A, Pacciarini ML, Rossi C (1996) Detection and preliminary characterization of a new rabbit calicivirus related to rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus but nonpathogenic. J Virol 70:8614–8623.
Chasey D, Duff P (1990) European brown hare syndrome and associated virus particles in the UK. Vet Rec 126:623–624.
Duff JP, Chasey D, Munro R, Wooldridge M (1994) European brown hare syndrome in England. Vet Rec 134:669–673.
Duff JP, Whitwell K, Chasey D (1997) The emergence and epidemiology of European brown hare syndrome in the UK. In: Chasey D (ed) Proceedings of the calicivirus symposium 1996, Reading, UK. European Society for Veterinary Virology, Reading UK, pp 176–181.
Eskens U, Volmer K (1989) Untersuchungen zur Ätiologie der Leberdystrophie des Feldhasen (Lepus europaeus). Dt Tierärztl Wochenschr 96:464–466.
Frölich K, Meyer HHD, Pielowski Z, Ronsholt L, Seck-Lanzendorf SV, Stolte M (1996) European brown hare syndrome in free-ranging hares in Poland. J Wildl Dis 32:280–285.
Frölich K, Haerer G, Bacciarini L, Janovsky M, Rudolph M, Giacometti M (2001) European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) in free-ranging European brown and mountain hares from Switzerland. J Wildl Dis 37:803–807.
Frölich K, Graf Kujawski OEJ, Rudolph M, Ronsholt L, Speck S (2003) European brown hare syndrome virus in free-ranging European brown hares from Argentina. J Wildl Dis 39:121–124.
Frölich K, Fickel J, Ludwig A, Lieckfeldt D, Streich WJ, Rastislav J, Slamečka J, Wibbelt G (2007) New variants of European brown hare syndrome virus strains in free-ranging European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) from Slovakia. J Wildl Dis 43:89–96.
Gavier-Widén D, Mörner T (1991) Epidemiology and diagnosis of the European brown hare syndrome in Scandinavian countries. Rev Scie Techn OIE 10:453–458.
Gavier-Widén D, Mörner T (1993) Descriptive epizootiological study of European brown hare syndrome in Sweden. J Wildl Dis 29:15–20.
Gortazar C, De Luco DF (1995) La enfermedad hemorrgica de la liebre. Trofeo 295:30–34.
Lavazza A, Vecchi G (1989) Osservazione su alcuni episodi di mortalità nelle lepri. Evidenziazione al microscopio elettronico di una particella virale. Nota preliminare. Selez Vet 30:461–467.
Lavazza A, Scicluna MT, Corradini L, Poli A, Barigazzi G, Cammi G, Capucci L (1992) Diagnostic procedures for European brown hare syndrome: application in epidemiological surveys in two Italian regions. In: Anonymous (ed) Proceedings 14th conference de la commission regionale de l'OIE pour l'Europe: Sofia, Bulgaria, 2–5 October 1990. OIE, Paris, pp 152–169.
Lavazza A, Capucci L (1996) Importanza dell'EBHS nella gestione della Lepre. Suppl. Ric Biol Selv 24:367–389.
Lavazza AM, Scicluna T, Capucci L (1996) Susceptibility of hares and rabbits to the European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) and rabbit heamorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) under experimental conditions. J Vet Med 43:401–410.
Lavazza A, Guberti V, Ferri M, Zanni, Poglayen G, Nardin A, Capucci L (1999) Epidemiology of European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) in Modena Province (north Italy). In: Nettleton P (ed) Proceedings 4th international congress of veterinary virology, ESVV, Edinburgh (Scotland), 24–27th August 1997. European Society of Veterinary Virology, Addlestone, Surrey, pp?34–37.
Le Gall G, Huguet S, Vende P, Vautherot JF, Rasschaert D (1996) European brown hare syndrome virus: molecular cloning and sequencing of the genome. J Gen Virol 77:1693–1697.
Le Gall-Reculé G, Zwingelstein F, Laurent S, Portejoie Y, Rasschaert D (2004) Phylogenetic analysis of European brown hare syndrome (EBHSV) in France between 1989 and 2003. In: Alves PC, Ferrand N (eds) 2nd World Lagomorph Conference, Vairão, Portugal, 26–31 July 2004. Abstract Book. CIBIO, Vairão, pp 197–198.
Löliger HC, Eskens U (1991) Incidence, epizootiology and control of viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits and the European brown hare syndrome in Germany. Rev Scie Techn OIE 10:423–434.
Lenghaus C, Studdert MJ, Gavier-Widén D (2001) Calicivirus infections. In: Williams ES, Barker IK (eds) Infectious diseases of wild mammals, 3rd edn. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, pp 280–291.
Nowotny N, Ros Bascuñana C, Ballagi-Pordány A, Gavier-Widén D, Uhlén M, Belák S (1997) Phylogenetic analysis of rabbit haemorrhagic disease and European brown hare syndrome viruses by comparison of sequences from the capsid protein gene. Arch Virol 142:657–673.
Okerman L, Van De Kerckhove P, Osaer S, Devriese L, Uyttebroek E. (1989) European brown hare syndrome in captive hares (Lepus capensis) in Belgium. Vlaams Diergeneeskundig Tijdschrift 58:44–46.
Poli A, Nigro M, Gallazzi D, Sironi G, Lavazza A, Gemetti D (1991) Acute hepatosis in the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in Italy. J Wildl Dis 27:621–629.
Rodák L, Smíd B, Valícek L, Veselý T, Stapánek J, Hampl J, Jurák E (1990) Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of antibodies to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus and determination of its major structural proteins. J Gen Virol 71:1075–1080.
Salmela P, Belak K, Gavier-Widén D (1993) The occurrence of European brown hare syndrome in Finland. Acta Vet Scan 34:215–217.
Scicluna M, Lavazza A, Capucci L (1994) European brown hare syndrome in northern Italy: results of a virological and serological survey. Rev Scie Techn OIE 13:893–904.
Sostaric B, Lipej Z, Fuchs R (1991) The disappearance of free living hares in Croatia: 1. European brown hare syndrome. Veterinarski Arhiv 61:133–150.
Steineck T, Nowotny N (1993) European Brown Hare Syndrome (EBHS) in östereich: Epizootiologische Untersuchungen. Tierärztl Umsch 48:225–229.
Tizzani P, Lavazza A, Capucci L, Meneguz PG (2002) Presence of infectious agents and parasites in wild population of cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) and consideration on its role in the diffusion of pathogens infecting hares. In: Erken AHM, Dorrestein GM, Dollinger P (eds) Proceedings of European Association of Zoo- and Wildlife Veterinarians (EAZWV) 4th Scientific Meeting, joint with the Annual Meeting of the European Wildlife Disease Association (EWDA) May 8–12, 2002, Heidelberg, Germany. Van Setten Kwadraat, LL Houten, The Netherlands, pp 245–248.
Wirblich C, Meyers G, Ohlinger VF, Capucci L, Eskens U, Haas B, Thiel HJ (1994) European brown hare syndrome virus: relationship to rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus and other caliciviruses. J Virol 68:5164.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Frölich, K., Lavazza, A. (2008). European Brown Hare Syndrome. In: Alves, P.C., Ferrand, N., Hackländer, K. (eds) Lagomorph Biology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72446-9_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72446-9_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-72445-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-72446-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)