National Rabbit Biocontrol Optimisation

Summary

Rabbit biocontrol has had dramatic and widespread benefits to Australian agriculture and environment for 60 years, with benefits estimated at over $70 billion. For 20 years only one type of virulent RHDV has been circulating in Australia, to which some populations of rabbits started to develop genetic resistance. Since 2014, with the detection of two exotic virulent RHDVs, and the coordinated release of the RHDV1 K5 strain, there are now four virulent strains of RHDV present in Australia’s rabbit population. This increasing genetic diversity poses challenges as well as opportunities.  

Unfortunately, there is never likely to be a silver bullet in rabbit management. We know from monitoring studies that the best response is an ongoing one, ensuring that new rabbit biocontrol agents can be released on a regular basis to counteract reduced effectiveness of existing agents due to increasing immunity and genetic resistance. In addition, boosts to existing controls add to their effectiveness, particularly through a horses-for-courses type approach. As such, rabbit management is not about one-off applications of solutions but regular, community-based approaches drawing from a pipeline of new, existing and evolving solutions.

Status

Commenced

Objectives

  1. A strengthened pipeline of new rabbit biocontrols from within Australia and internationally. 
  2. Best practice for where and when to apply which strain to maximise viral genetic diversity, based on best science determining what defines success of a virulent field strain.  
  3. Assessment of a more cost-effective landscape scale rabbit disease tracking tool to support the long-term goals and pipeline solutions approach of farmers to managing the impacts of rabbits.  
  4. Assess the feasibility of insect vector sampling as an additional more cost-effective tool for landscape scale tracking of rabbit disease activity. 
  • Determine diversity and distribution of RHDVs and which viral genes account for high levels of virulence and successful transmission in the field using genetic and functional studies of viral recombinants, which will inform the selection of possible future RHDV products (note development of a new product is not part of this proposal and functional studies of recombinants will depend on obtaining a PhD project for this aspect).  

Project Leader



Dr Tanja Strive (Biocontrol Domain)
Project Team
  • Dr Tanja Strive, CSIRO 
  • Dr Robyn Hall, CSIRO 
  • Ms Nina Huang, CSIRO 
  • Dr Tarnya Cox, NSW DPI 
  • Dr David Peacock, PIRSA 
  • Mr John Kovaliski, PIRSA 
  • Dr Brad Page, PIRSA 
  • Dr Carlo Pacioni, Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI), Victoria
  • Dr David Ramsey, Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI), Victoria
Project Partners
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
  • NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI)
  • Primary Industries and Region South Australia (PIRSA)
  • Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)
  • Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)

Outputs

February 2019: 

Intensive rabbit monitoring sites have been established with monitoring well underway at sites in South Australia and the ACT, and due to commence at other sites in Autumn 2019. Sites in South Australia are reporting the lowest abundance of rabbits in more than 20 years, indicating that circulating strains of RHDV are suppressing rabbit numbers. 

The methods for sampling, processing and analysing carrion feeding flies for the presence of RHDV have been developed and validated. A national fly monitoring network at over 30 sites across Australia has been established and fortnightly sampling has commenced.  

Analysis of samples from dead rabbits submitted directly to CSIRO and through RabbitScan is ongoing – over 1600 samples have been analysed since the beginning of the previous IA-CRC project RHD Boost Rollout, and ~1000 since the K5 release).  

August 2019 update:

Ongoing testing of tissue from deceased rabbits shows RHDV2 remains the dominant rabbit calicivirus circulating in Australia, with K5 detected at release sites. A new screening method is being implemented to detect recombinant viruses.

Rabbit monitoring at selected intensive sites in TAS, ACT, WA, NSW and SA is ongoing or ramping up shortly, with a minimum bi-annual sampling taking place. In addition, monitoring and sampling of the rabbit population at the Turretfield research site continues as part of this project, building on extensive knowledge of this wild rabbit population and adding these ongoing monitoring results to the long-term RHDV and myxoma disease database at this site.

A paper on optimising and validating molecular testing of carrion flies for rabbit calicivirus detection, including associated protocols was published. This provided the basis for a nationwide year-long pilot study now underway.

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