No1Mk3 wrote:G'day straightshooter,
yes it is the same disease, no it didn't "spread" overseas. You are aware the strain on calicivirus we use CAME from overseas? We actually use a Czech strain if the virus for rabbit control. Rabbit Haemorhagic Disease has been in North America for decades with outbreaks occurring quite regularly, a non-pathologic form of the disease has been around for millennia, Cheers
My understanding was that our virus was the result of a selective breeding process to optimise the virus for both the Australian climate and the readily available vectors for propagating the virus to only our species of wild rabbit.
I was unaware that the parent virus was endemic elsewhere in the world.
It is a somewhat strange parallel that our rabbit virus emanated from a selective breeding programme by "escaping" much as some credible sources are suggesting it is a similar occurrence in Wuhan.