Recovery of infectious rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus from rabbits after direct inoculation with in vitro-transcribed RNA

We report the first full-length infectious clone of strain JX/CHA/97 of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). The transcripts from the full-length cDNA clones were infectious when they were directly injected into rabbits. The sequence of the virus recovered from the rabbits was identical to that of the injected RNA transcripts. The cDNA clone was engineered to contain one silent nucleotide change to create an EcoRV site (A to T at nucleotide 2908). The genetic marker was retained in the recovered progeny virus. The transfection of RNA transcripts into RK-13 cells resulted in the synthesis of viral antigens, indicating that the cDNA clones were replication competent. This stable infectious molecular clone should be an important tool for developing a better understanding of the molecular biology and pathogenesis of RHDV.