Identification and characterization of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus genetic variants isolated in Korea

Nine isolates of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) were used for the genetic characterization of RHDV strains collected from rabbits in Korea between 2006 and 2008. A phylogenetic analysis of the complete VP60 region was performed and the sequences were divided mainly into two groups. The one group consisted of original RHDV and the other contained antigenic variant strain known as RHDVa strains. Most of the Korean isolates clustered with Chinese RHDV strains and belonged to the RHDVa subtype. A comparison of the amino acid sequences among RHDVa strains and original RHDV strains revealed significant substitutions of two amino acids in the A region, two in the B region, two in the F region, and nine amino acids in the E region. Taken together, the recent RHDVa strains have gradually replaced the original RHDV and are the predominant strains in Korea.