Natural parvovirus infection in laboratory rabbits

Laboratory rabbits from various commercial and private sources were found to have high serum antibody titers specific for lapine parvovirus (LPV). By both immunofluorescence and hemagglutination inhibition assays, 75% of these sera were positive for LPV. This finding, together with the recovery of LPV from kidneys of neonatal rabbits, suggested that LPV infection is common in commercially available rabbits in the United States. It was concluded that use of infected rabbits could interfere with research in which rabbit cell cultures or in vitro immunologic assays are used.