Ana M Lopes

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources

The rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) impacts the European rabbit and was first discovered in China in 1984. Since then, it spread globally, leading to significant rabbit population declines. To manage the vast amount of genomic data available, including of RHDV, various strategies and computational tools have been developed. These tools can...

This dataset contains a curated collection of PCR primers for Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) retrieved from scientific literature using AROLit, an automated computational tool. AROLit systematically scans publications for primer sequences, extracts relevant metadata, and compiles them into a structured database. For each primer, the data...

This dataset contains in silico-designed primers for detecting Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV), generated using iSOP, a Python-based computational tool for automated primer design. iSOP integrates sequence analysis and primer optimization to identify highly specific and efficient primer pairs. For each primer, the dataset includes computa...

Background: Usutu virus (Orthoflavivirus usutuense, USUV), a neurotropic arthropod-borne RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae, is a zoonotic virus that has spread throughout the European continent over the last three decades, since its emergence in Italy in 1996. However, no cases of USUV have been reported in Portugal so far. Material and methods:...

Viruses are responsible for many devastating rabbit diseases that impact their health and welfare and put their conservation and economic revenue at risk [...]

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) presents a significant global health concern due to its transmission through both fecal-oral and zoonotic pathways. This project aimed to improve virus detection methods and investigate the genetic diversity of HEV, with a specific focus on rabbit HEV (HEV-3ra). Key tools utilized in this project included AROLit and ISOP...

Shah and colleagues [...]

Hepatitis E (HE) is of global health concern, with zoonotic transmission impacting epidemiology. The HE virus (HEV) has eight recognized genotypes, with genotypes 1 and 2 being exclusive to humans; genotypes 3 and 4 have a broader host range and potential animal-to-human transmission. While historically linked to human infections, wild and domestic...

The Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a global health concern, with zoonotic transmission impacting epidemiology. The virus has eight recognized genotypes, with genotypes 1 and 2 being exclusive to humans, while genotypes 3 and 4 have a broader host range and potential animal-to-human transmission. While historically linked to human infections, wild and d...

In 2020/2021, several European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) outbreaks were recorded in European hares (Lepus europaeus) from Catalonia, Spain. Recombination analysis combined with phylogenetic reconstruction and estimation of genetic distances of the complete coding sequences revealed that 5 strains were recombinants. The recombination breakpo...

Emerging infectious diseases are a major challenge to human and animal health. While predicting the emergence of pathogens is complex, the advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies has allowed the rapid identification of unknown microbiology diversity within organisms. Here, we discuss an example of a metatranscriptomics output to decipher...

RHDV database: computational approaches to build a primer database

In this work, we developed a user-friendly computational tool to automatically retrieve primers used in the literature for the identification of RHDV. We have also designed all possible primer sequences based on a reference genome using a python script. We generated combinations between the forward and reverse primers for the literature and in sili...

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations of the Iberian Peninsula have been severely affected by the emergence of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 (RHDV2/b). Bushflies and blowflies (Muscidae and Calliphoridae families, respectively) are important RHDV vectors in Oceania, but their epidemiological...

Phylogenetic Conservation Scores to Select Primers for RHDV Identification

The rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a lagovirus of the family Caliciviridae that causes the rabbit hemorrhagic disease, which is characterized by a highly contagious, acute, and fulminating liver disease. Due to the high genetic diversity, it is important to correctly identify the RHDV strains circulating in farm and wild rabbits, to imp...

Bats have long been associated with multiple pathogens, including viruses affecting humans such as henipaviruses, filoviruses, bunyaviruses and coronaviruses. The alpha and beta coronaviruses genera can infect most mammalian species. Among them, betacoronavirus SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, which have caused the three major pandemics in the la...

Estimation of the diagnostic performance of serological tests often relies on another test assumed as reference or on samples of known infection status, yet both are seldom available for emerging pathogens in wildlife. Longitudinal disease serological data can be analysed through multi‐event capture‐mark‐recapture (MECMR) models accounting for the...

Simple Summary For more than 35 years, lagomorphs, which include rabbits and hares, have been severely affected by hemorrhagic disease viruses, such as the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). Rabbits are important host species in the ecosystem, as they are prey of many species in the wild, are reared for meat production in several countries, a...

Viruses that affect lagomorphs have decades of reported history of spillover events. One of these viruses are the causative agents of the so‐called rabbit or “lagomorph” haemorrhagic disease (e.g., Lagovirus europaeus/GI.1 and L. europaeus/GI.2). In particular, L. europaeus/GI.2 has shown a great capacity to recombine with existing lagoviruses. In...

Since the early 1980s, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been threatened by the rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD). The disease is caused by a lagovirus of the family Caliciviridae, the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). The need for detection, identification and further characterization of RHDV led to the development of several d...

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease is a viral disease that emerged in the 1980s and causes high mortality and morbidity in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In 2010, a new genotype of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus emerged and replaced the former circulating Lagovirus europaeus/GI.1 strains. Several recombination events have been reporte...

Recombination is one of the major sources of genetic variation in viruses. RNA viruses, such as rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), are among the viruses with the highest recombination rates. Several recombination events have been described for RHDV, mostly as a consequence of their genomic architecture. Here, we undertook phylogenetic and rec...

An original article has recently been published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases entitled “Absence of Hepatitis E virus circulation in wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus ) and Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis ) in Mediterranean ecosystems in Spain” by Caballero‐Gómez and others (https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.13478; Caballero‐Gómez et al., 202...

Adenoviruses (AdV) are pathogens capable of infecting animals and humans leading to a wide spectrum of diseases. They have a widespread geographical dissemination and infect several species, including red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris). In the Iberian Peninsula, there are no reports of infection of red squirrels by AdV. In this study, we report for t...

Background: The C-C motif chemokine ligand 16 (CCL16) is a potent pro-inflammatory chemokine and a chemoattractant for monocytes and lymphocytes. In normal plasma, it is present at high concentrations and elicits its effects on cells by interacting with cell surface chemokine receptors. In the European rabbit and in rodents such as mouse, rat and...

This article was originally published under a CC BY-NC-SA License, but has now been made available under a CC BY 4.0 License.

Background Prior to 2010, the lagoviruses that cause rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) in hares (Lepus spp.) were generally genus-specific. However, in 2010, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2), also known as Lagovirus europaeus GI.2, emerged and had the disti...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is highly lethal to the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). It was first reported in 1984 in China, but in 2010, a new variant of the virus was detected (GI.2) in France. Several recombination events with pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains have been described. Here, we report the first sequences of RH...

Rabbits offer a powerful complement to rodents as a model for studying human immunology, disease pathology, and responses to infectious disease. A review from Pedro Esteves at the University of Porto, Portugal, Rose Mage of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Bethesda, USA and colleagues highlights some of the areas of researc...

As the detection of the first outbreak of a novel aetiological agent of rabbit haemorrhagic disease commonly called RHDV2 or RHDVb (Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2, henceforth GI.2) in France in 2010, the virus rapidly spread throughout continental Europe and nearby islands such as Great Britain, Sardinia, Sicily, the Azores and the Canary Islands among o...

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a viral disease that affects the European rabbit. RHD was detected in 1984 in China and rapidly disseminated worldwide causing a severe decline in wild rabbit populations. The aetiological agent, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), is an RNA virus of the family Caliciviridae, genus Lagovirus. Pathogenic (G...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) are two lagoviruses from the family Caliciviridae that cause fatal diseases in two leporid genera, Oryctolagus and Lepus, respectively. In the last few years, several examples of host jumps of lagoviruses among leporids were recorded. In addition, a new pathogeni...

A recent publication by Carvalho et al. in “Virus Genes” (June 2017) reported the presence of the new variant of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2) in the two larger islands of the archipelago of Madeira. Based on the capsid protein sequence, the authors suggested that the high sequence identity, along with the short time spanning between out...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a veterinary disease that affects the European rabbit and has a significant economic and ecological negative impact. In Portugal, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) was reported in 1989 and still causes enzootic outbreaks. Several recombination events have been detected in RHDV strains, including in the firs...

Lagoviruses belong to the Caliciviridae family. They were first recognized as highly pathogenic viruses of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) that emerged in the 1970-1980s, namely, rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV), according to the host specie...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) causes devastating effects on European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations in the Iberian Peninsula. According to the information available, only genogroup 1 strains were circulating in Iberian wild rabbits until 2011; the antigenic variant G6 has been sporadically detected in rabbitries since 2007. He...

Emergent diseases may alter the structure and functioning of ecosystems by creating new biotic interactions and modifying existing ones, producing cascading processes along trophic webs. Recently, a new variant of the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2 or RHDVb) arguably caused widespread declines in a keystone prey in Mediterranean ecosystem...

RHDV (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus), a virulent calicivirus, causes high mortalities in European rabbit populations (Oryctolagus cuniculus). It uses α1,2fucosylated glycans, histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs), as attachment factors, with their absence or low expression generating resistance to the disease. Synthesis of these glycans requires an...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), a Lagovirus of the family Caliciviridae, causes rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). The disease was first documented in 1984 in China and rapidly spread worldwide. In 2010 a new RHDV variant emerged, tentatively classified as "RHDVb". RHDVb is characterized by aff...

We report the complete genome sequences of two isolates (RHDV-N11 and CBVal16) of variant rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDVb). Isolate N11 was detected in young domestic animals during a rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) outbreak that occurred in 2011 on a rabbit farm in Navarra, Spain, while CBVal16 was isolated from a wild rabbit found dead i...

The Lagovirus rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), a member of the family Caliciviridae, severely affects European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) populations by causing rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD). RHDV is subdivided in six genogroups but, more recently, a new RHDV variant with a unique genetic and antigenic profile emerged. We performed a...

European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) is the aetiological agent of European brown hare syndrome (EBHS), a disease affecting Lepus europaeus and Lepus timidus first diagnosed in Sweden in 1980. To characterize EBHSV evolution we studied hare samples collected in Sweden between 1982 and 2008. Our molecular clock dating is compatible with EBHSV e...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a highly lethal Lagovirus, family Caliciviridae, that threatens European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Although a related virus severely affects hares, cross-species infection was only recently described for new variant RHDV2 in Cape hares (Lepus capensis). We sequenced two strains from dead Iberian har...

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease is caused by a calicivirus, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), which is responsible for high mortality in domestic and wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). RHDV strains were sequenced from wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus) collected in the Azorean island of Pico, Portugal. Phylogenetic...

T-complex testis expressed protein 1 domain containing 4 (TCTEX1D4) contains the canonical phosphoprotein phosphatase 1 (PPP1) binding motif, composed by the amino acid sequence RVSF. We identified and validated the binding of TCTEX1D4 to PPP1 and demonstrated that indeed this protein is a novel PPP1 interacting protein. Analyses of twenty-one mamm...

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), genus Lagovirus, family Caliciviridae, causes a large number of deaths in wild and domestic adult European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). The first documented outbreak dates from 1984 in China, but the virus rapidly dispersed worldwide. In 1997, an antigenic variant was detected in Italy and designated RH...

On Mar 4, 2015 this sequence version replaced gi:544160838.

On Mar 4, 2015 this sequence version replaced gi:544160842.

On Mar 4, 2015 this sequence version replaced gi:544160840.

On Mar 4, 2015 this sequence version replaced gi:544160836.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is a calicivirus that causes a highly fatal disease in both wild and domestic adult European rabbits. In the Iberian Peninsula, the first description of RHDV dates from 1989 and all isolated strains cluster within genogroup 1. In 2011 the new variant of RHDV was detected in Spain, already described in France...

European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is characterised by high mortality of European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) and mountain hares (Lepus timidus). European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) and the closely related rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) comprise the genus Lagovirus, family Caliciviridae. In contrast to RHDV, which is well studie...

A determinação do status da proteína HER2 por imunocitoquímica é uma metodologia fundamental para o diagnóstico, prognóstico e indicação terapêutica no carcinoma da mama, nomeadamente para o encaminhamento terapêutico com Herceptin®/trastuzumab. O estabelecimento desta terapêutica nas vertentes adjuvante ou neoadjuvante, e até em doença metastática...

The complete genomic sequences of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) strains isolated in 1995 (CB137) and 2006 (CB194) from wild European rabbits from Portugal are described. The strains were isolated in the original range of the European rabbit and assigned to genogroup 1 (G1), which is known to have persisted only in the Iberian Peninsula. O...

Representative MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectra of O-glycans released from three of the Rabbit Duodenum samples analysed (Samples 2, 4, 6). Glycans released by β-elimination reaction were permethylated prior to MALDI-TOF-TOF analysis. The fragment ions are consistent with the sequences shown in the inset. A: MS/MS spectrum of the molecular ion at m/z 708...

Neoglycoconjugates used to determine the carbohydrate binding characteristics of RHDV strains. aOligosaccharides were used coupled to either polyacrylamide via an 3 carbon spacer (R1), or to human serum albumin via either a p-aminophenylethyl spacer (R2) or an acetyl phenylenediamine spacer (R3). (PDF)

Summary of all structures observed in the MALDI-TOF-MS spectra of the duodenum tissue from rabbits, Samples 1–10. The symbol presentation of O-glycans is based on the nomenclature used in Essentials of Glycobiology textbook (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1908) and adopted by the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (http://www.functionalglyco...

Composition of permethylated O-glycans in 10 samples of Rabbit Duodenum, obtained through MALDI-TOF analysis. (PDF)

MALDI-TOF MS of N-glycans released by PNGase F digestion from three of the Rabbit Duodenum samples analyzed. Glycan were permethylated prior to MALDI-TOF analysis. Structures were assigned taking into account the molecular weight and the biosynthetic pathway. A structure containing monosaccharides outside a bracket suggests potential structural het...

MALDI-Ion Trap-TOF MS, MS/MS and MS3 mass spectra of O-glycans released from the Rabbit Duodenum Sample 4. The sample was kindly analyzed by Shimadzu Ltd, by their MALDI-Ion Trap-TOF instrument “Axima Resonance”. A: MS spectrum of sample 4. The annotation of the structure at m/z 1373 takes into account the information emerging from fragmentation da...

RHDV challenge of A+B+ and A−B− rabbits. 31 rabbits were infected with an A and B binding G4 strain at 107 or 109 virus copies. Rabbits either succumbed to infection or were sacrificed after 11 days. Duodenum and liver samples were collected at time of death. Duodenum was phenotyped for G4 binding. Duodenum and liver were also assayed for virus RNA...

Contingency table of relationship between expression of H type 2 with A or B. 1p = 4.8×10−7; 2p = 7.5×10−6 ; 3p = 2.0×10−9. (PDF)

Survival analysis of rabbits challenged with the G4 strain at 3 genome copies doses (105, 107 and 109). At 11 days, all survivors were sacrificed. There were no statistically significant differences between the 3 groups. (PDF)

Significance of correlation between RHDV binding and ABH phenotypes with Fischer's exact test. 1 7 rabbits A+B-H− and one A+B-H+ with weak H type 2 expression. (PDF)

Rabbit Hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), a calicivirus of the Lagovirus genus, and responsible for rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD), kills rabbits between 48 to 72 hours post infection with mortality rates as high as 50-90%. Caliciviruses, including noroviruses and RHDV, have been shown to bind histo-blood group antigens (HBGA) and human non-secret...