myxoma virus

Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

myxoma virus

Taxonomic Tree

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Domain: Virus
Group: "ssDNA viruses"
Group: "DNA viruses"
Family: Poxviridae
Subfamily: Chordopoxvirinae
Genus: Leporipoxvirus
Species: myxoma virus

Diseases Table

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myxomatosis

Distribution Table

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The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

Last updated: 10 Jan 2020

Continent/Country/Region	Distribution	Reference	Notes
Africa
Algeria	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Angola	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Botswana	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Cabo Verde	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Central African Republic	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Côte d'Ivoire	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Djibouti	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Egypt	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Eritrea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Eswatini	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Ethiopia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Ghana	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guinea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Libya	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Madagascar	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Mauritius	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Morocco	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Namibia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Nigeria	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Réunion	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South Africa	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Sudan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Togo	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Zimbabwe	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Asia
Bahrain	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Bhutan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Brunei	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
China	Present	CABI (Undated)	Present based on regional distribution.
Hong Kong	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
India	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Indonesia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Iran	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Iraq	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Japan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jordan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Kazakhstan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Lebanon	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Malaysia
-Peninsular Malaysia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
-Sabah	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
-Sarawak	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Mongolia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North Korea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Oman	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Philippines	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Singapore	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South Korea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Sri Lanka	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Syria	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Taiwan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Thailand	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Turkmenistan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
United Arab Emirates	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Uzbekistan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Vietnam	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Europe
Andorra	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Belgium	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Cyprus	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Czechia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Denmark	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Estonia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Finland	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
France	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Germany	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Greece	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Iceland	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Ireland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Isle of Man	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Italy	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jersey	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Liechtenstein	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Luxembourg	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Malta	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Netherlands	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North Macedonia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Norway	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Poland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Portugal	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Russia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Slovenia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Spain	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Switzerland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
United Kingdom	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
-Northern Ireland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North America
Barbados	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Belize	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Bermuda	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
British Virgin Islands	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Canada	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Cayman Islands	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Costa Rica	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Cuba	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Curaçao	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Dominica	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Dominican Republic	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
El Salvador	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guatemala	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Haiti	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Honduras	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jamaica	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Martinique	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Nicaragua	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Trinidad and Tobago	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
United States	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)	CAB Abstracts Data Mining
Oceania
Australia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
French Polynesia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
New Caledonia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Samoa	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Vanuatu	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South America
Bolivia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Brazil	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Colombia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Falkland Islands	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
French Guiana	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guyana	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Paraguay	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Venezuela	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)

Pathogen Characteristics

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Myxoma virus (MYXV) is a member of the genus Leporipoxvirus in the family Poxviridae. MYXV infects only lagomorphs. While it causes only mild disease in its natural hosts, American rabbits of the genus Sylvilagus, in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) it causes serious disease (myxomatosis) that can result in 100% mortality (Fenner and Ratcliffe, 1965, Fenner, 1994). Following the introduction of MYXV to control wild rabbit populations in Australia (in 1950) and France (in 1952), MYXV now has a worldwide distribution (Fenner and Fantini, 1999).

MYXV contains a very large linear double-stranded DNA genome encoding 171 unique genes. The entire genomes of the South American strain, Lausanne (Cameron et al., 1999) and the North American strain MSW (Labudovic et al., 2004) have been sequenced. The strains introduced into Europe and Australia are South American in origin. The evolutionary process of MYXV is characterised by an unusually high nucleotide substitution rate for a double-stranded DNA virus, frequent changes in virulence and a marked ability to spread (Bertagnoi and Marchandeau, 2015).

Myxomatosis is on the list of diseases notifiable to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). For more information, see the website: www.oie.int.

Host Animals

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Animal name	Context	Life stage	System
Lepus europaeus (European hare)
Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbits)
Sylvilagus bachmani
Sylvilagus brasiliensis

Vectors and Intermediate Hosts

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Vector	Source	Group
Aedes caspius	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Aedes detritus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Aedes geniculatus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Aedes rusticus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Aedes vexans vexans	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Amiota variegata	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Anopheles annulipes	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Anopheles maculipennis	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Boophilus annulatus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Culex pipiens pipiens	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Insect
Culiseta annulata	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Culiseta subochrea	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Dermacentor marginatus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Haemaphysalis concinna	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Haemaphysalis punctata	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Haematopota italica	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Ixodes acuminatus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Ixodes ricinus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Lipoptena cervi	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Psoroptes cuniculi	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Rhipicephalus bursa	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Rhipicephalus pusillus	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0	Tick
Sarcoptes scabiei	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Spilopsyllus cuniculi	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0
Uranotaenia unguiculata	MINED DATA; 16/11/01 14:00:0

References

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Bertagnoli S; Marchandeau S, 2015. Myxomatosis. Revue Scientifique et Technique - Office International des Épizooties, 34(2):539-547 (Fr), 549-556 (En). http://www.oie.int/publications-and-documentation/scientific-and-technical-review-free-access/list-of-issues/

Cameron C; Hota-Mitchell S; Chen Ling; Barrett J; Cao JingXin; Macaulay C; Willer D; Evans D; McFadden G, 1999. The complete DNA sequence of myxoma virus. Virology (New York), 264(2):298-318.

Fenner F, 1994. Myxoma virus. Virus infections of rodents and lagomorphs [ed. by Osterhaus, A. D. M. E.]. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Science Publishers, 59-70.

Fenner F; Fantini B, 1999. Biological control of vertebrate pests: the history of myxomatosis, an experiment in evolution. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing, xii + 339 pp.

Fenner F; Ratcliffe FN, 1965. Myxomatosis. Cambridge: University Press, xiv + 379 pp.

Labudovic A; Perkins H; Leeuwen Bvan; Kerr P, 2004. Sequence mapping of the Californian MSW strain of Myxoma virus. Archives of Virology, 149(3):553-570.

OIE Handistatus, 2002. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2001). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.

OIE Handistatus, 2003. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2002). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.

OIE Handistatus, 2004. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (data set for 2003). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.

OIE Handistatus, 2005. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (data set for 2004). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.

Distribution References

CABI, Undated. CABI Compendium: Status inferred from regional distribution. Wallingford, UK: CABI

OIE Handistatus, 2005. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2004)., Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.

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Invasive Species Compendium

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myxoma virus

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myxoma virus

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Summary

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Identity

Preferred Scientific Name

Taxonomic Tree

Diseases Table

Distribution Table

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

South America

Pathogen Characteristics

Host Animals

Vectors and Intermediate Hosts

References

Distribution References

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