Virus meant for rabbit's causing Devil Tumors

Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) has ravaged Tasmania's wild devils, and estimates of the impact range from 20% to as much as a 50% decline in the devil population, with over 65% of the state affected. The state's west coast area and far north-west where I am from, are the only places left where devils are tumor free.



The disease is an example of a transmissible cancer, which means that it is contagious and passed from one animal to another.

Short of a cure, scientists are removing the sick animals and quarantining healthy devils in case the wild population dies out.

Because Tasmanian devils have extremely low levels of genetic diversity and a chromosomal mutation unique among carnivorous mammals, they are more prone to the infectious cancer

Experts estimate that the devil has suffered a more than 80% decline in its population since the mid-1990s and that only around 10,000–15,000 remain in the wild as of 2008.

Here's my theory

In 1996 the Rabbit Calicivirus or viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD) was deliberatly introduced to Tasmania to eliminate the states pest rabbit problem.

Or otherwise known as.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD), also known as rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) or viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD), is a highly infectious and often fatal disease that affects wild and domestic rabbits of the species Oryctolagus cuniculus. The infectious agent responsible for the disease is rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), or rabbit calicivirus (RCV), genus Lagovirus of the family Caliciviridae. The virus infects only rabbits, and has been used in some countries to control rabbit populations.

The problem here of course is that Devils eat dead rabbits and is probably one of their main food sources.



Could the Rabbit Haemorrhagic disease have mutated to affect other species other than European rabbit? They are still releasing this virus as we speak.

It would really be a shame if we managed to wipe out another rare species by accident in the brief 100 years that we have been here.

The number one suspect in the cause of the DFTD disease is the Calcivirus IMO. Start vaccinating ASAP!

Samuelis

Who the # thinks its a good idea to invent a horrible disease to kill something as cute as rabbits? What the # is wrong with people? How many diseases have been invented to kill people?

Poor devils

Also lol at the fact theres an animal called a devil.

nice thread. nice theory.

I do believe you are onto something. I remember seeing rabbits with Mixo in the mid 90's but that was on the northwest, so how come our devils up this end of the coast aren't effected when there was mixo up this end of the state.

What about other causes? Foxes, 1080, Bumble bee's, ect. stuff that is foreign Tasmania that wasn't here before 90's came around.

One other cause Phone Towers.

Just throwing some idea's out there for you.

IMO, this is exactly the kinda event that will cause some seriously messed up human epidemic. Not to mention how a legit zombie virus could be formed. How scary is that, I honestly didn't know cancers could be contagious.

Wow, plus Devils and rabbits are easy to maintain without having to go all sinister on em.

Originally posted by amraks
nice thread. nice theory.

I do believe you are onto something. I remember seeing rabbits with Mixo in the mid 90's but that was on the northwest, so how come our devils up this end of the coast aren't effected when there was mixo up this end of the state.

What about other causes? Foxes, 1080, Bumble bee's, ect. stuff that is foreign Tasmania that wasn't here before 90's came around.

One other cause Phone Towers.

Just throwing some idea's out there for you.

It might be due to the differences in the genome as it was found that the Devils in the North have a different genes make-up than the Devils in the South.

All very possible. 1080 has also be used extensively during the logging boom. The fact that the disease is so contagious leads me back to the "mixo" virus.

Cheers

Originally posted by Moneyisgodlifeisrented
IMO, this is exactly the kinda event that will cause some seriously messed up human epidemic. Not to mention how a legit zombie virus could be formed. How scary is that, I honestly didn't know cancers could be contagious.

Wow, plus Devils and rabbits are easy to maintain without having to go all sinister on em.

You know about cervical cancer and the gardasil vaccine right?

Originally posted by phroziac
Who the # thinks its a good idea to invent a horrible disease to kill something as cute as rabbits? What the # is wrong with people? How many diseases have been invented to kill people?

Poor devils

Also lol at the fact theres an animal called a devil.

Well.. erm.. not the disease.. but killing them? me.
I would go Roman on some rabbits. I grow 3 raised bed gardens for my family's fresh foods and things to can for winter. I have a serious rabbit problem and they are literally taking the food from my kids mouths. I am overrun by rabbits.. everywhere. Considering they do this and are disease vectors.. playing with their poop in my garden and kids play areas.. I can see how the pop would need to be culled for health reasons alone for the rabbits.. not to mention people... but inventing a disease to do it is heinous. I didnt research this story, but Id imagine over population is the problem.. but it is very like govt agencies to use a sledge hammer when a fly swatter is all thats necessary. I also find it incredible that they didnt even consider ( or maybe they didnt care) what other animal the rabbits were a food source for.

reply to post by Advantage


Thats what guns are for. Atleast if you shoot them, they die before they know what happened. Humane kill. But to let them suffer is evil.

Theres also ways to repel them. They are cute.

You know what they did here? Brought in a non native predator that eats rabbits. The coyote. Now were overrun with coyotes. great move, right? What else do coyotes eat? cats, dogs, children.....

They shouldve brought devils lol theyre cute.

The Australian authorities thought RHD would be a cheap way to kill rabbits. Unfortunately, the authorities own tests on 28+ non-rabbit species showed high antibody levels in non-target species (native Australian Animals) which actually went above the cut-off level of 30% but this fact has been glossed over by Australian officials. [Refer BRS report August 1996 - Rabbit Calicivirus Disease]

reply to post by Samuelis


G.day mate. you could really be on the ball with this. i have been wondering for some time just how and when the devils came by the problem. point of interest. before calicivirus was tested and subquently released in Aussie, the Mexicans were having a problem with calicivirus crossing to other animals. they asked the U.S. for aid both financial and physical in the eradication of the desease in Mexico. so now the penny drops. i wonder if the Mexicans solved their problem. qest. who is the f-wit resonsible here in Aussie, lets bitch slap the drongo.i saw the article in the Adelaide advertiser. uncertain exactly when. it pricked my mind and has hung around in the back filing cabinet of my brain for several reasons. 1 country bloke. 2 avid hunter. 3. dont hunt, take or consume rabbit from areas prone to calicivirus.

Originally posted by Moneyisgodlifeisrented
IMO, this is exactly the kinda event that will cause some seriously messed up human epidemic. Not to mention how a legit zombie virus could be formed. How scary is that, I honestly didn't know cancers could be contagious.

Wow, plus Devils and rabbits are easy to maintain without having to go all sinister on em.

The cancer is not contagious. The virus which causes the cancer can be. Claiming this is a contagious cancer is misleading.

Originally posted by phroziac
reply to post by Advantage

 

Thats what guns are for. Atleast if you shoot them, they die before they know what happened. Humane kill. But to let them suffer is evil.

The (c)howard government took our guns away

Theres also ways to repel them. They are cute.

They are an introduced pest, they need to be irradiated. Repelling them wont solve the destruction they cause.

You know what they did here? Brought in a non native predator that eats rabbits. The coyote. Now were overrun with coyotes. great move, right? What else do coyotes eat? cats, dogs, children.....

And some clever person thought it was a good idea to bring cane-toads into the country to eat cane beetles.

They shouldve brought devils lol theyre cute.

their not pets, their wild animals--Cute they are, but they dont really like being petted.

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04

Originally posted by Moneyisgodlifeisrented
IMO, this is exactly the kinda event that will cause some seriously messed up human epidemic. Not to mention how a legit zombie virus could be formed. How scary is that, I honestly didn't know cancers could be contagious.

Wow, plus Devils and rabbits are easy to maintain without having to go all sinister on em.

The cancer is not contagious. The virus which causes the cancer can be. Claiming this is a contagious cancer is misleading.

It's not misleading, it is very rare but there are documented cases in canines.

Transmissible cancer, caused by a clone of malignant cells rather than a virus, is extremely rare. The only other known types are canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), which is passed between dogs via sexual activity and has been known to science for about 100 years[19]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease

It is one of three known contagious cancers.

Originally posted by cartenz
Originally posted by phroziac
reply to post by Advantage

The (c)howard government took our guns away

We still are allowed to have hunting permits.

They are an introduced pest, they need to be irradiated. Repelling them wont solve the destruction they cause.

You mean eradicated right?

And some clever person thought it was a good idea to bring cane-toads into the country to eat cane beetles.

I think we should not ever mess with the natural ecosystem as the ramifications are far too complex to understand.

their not pets, their wild animals--Cute they are, but they dont really like being petted.

Yeah I'm not sure they would make a very good pet, although these ones seem pretty affectionate.



Pound for pound, the Tasmanian devil is the most powerful biter alive today, maybe making it slightly scary.

Originally posted by pronto
reply to post by Samuelis

 

G.day mate. you could really be on the ball with this. i have been wondering for some time just how and when the devils came by the problem. point of interest. before calicivirus was tested and subquently released in Aussie, the Mexicans were having a problem with calicivirus crossing to other animals. they asked the U.S. for aid both financial and physical in the eradication of the desease in Mexico. so now the penny drops. i wonder if the Mexicans solved their problem. qest. who is the f-wit resonsible here in Aussie, lets bitch slap the drongo.i saw the article in the Adelaide advertiser. uncertain exactly when. it pricked my mind and has hung around in the back filing cabinet of my brain for several reasons. 1 country bloke. 2 avid hunter. 3. dont hunt, take or consume rabbit from areas prone to calicivirus.

Hey mate, thanks I hadn't actually heard that about Mexico. As far as I have researched, there is no known vaccination for any other species than the rabbits themselves.

But your damn right somebody deserves a real good bitch slapping. I think they held a referendum or something of the likes so maybe we all need to learn a big lesson from this.

It's kind of funny how they used to say it was safe to eat the dead rabbits with "mixo." They have not stated this since. They have slowly shifted their stance over time as science did.

You could have mixo and not even know. And you could bet your bottom dollar that they have not conducted any research into human mixo. Cheers for posting mate.

Originally posted by Samuelis

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04

Originally posted by Moneyisgodlifeisrented
IMO, this is exactly the kinda event that will cause some seriously messed up human epidemic. Not to mention how a legit zombie virus could be formed. How scary is that, I honestly didn't know cancers could be contagious.

Wow, plus Devils and rabbits are easy to maintain without having to go all sinister on em.

The cancer is not contagious. The virus which causes the cancer can be. Claiming this is a contagious cancer is misleading.

It's not misleading, it is very rare but there are documented cases in canines.

Transmissible cancer, caused by a clone of malignant cells rather than a virus, is extremely rare. The only other known types are canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), which is passed between dogs via sexual activity and has been known to science for about 100 years[19]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease

It is one of three known contagious cancers.

And that is not what is being discussed in this OP. The infected rabbits are being eaten transmitting the virus to the Devils. That is not contagious cancer, that's a contagious virus. So as I said claiming THIS is a contagious cancer is misleading.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04


Yes as discussed in the OP, the cancer is contagious among devils. i.e Devil to Devil.
I'm not sure what is hard to understand about that fact?

Originally posted by phroziac
Who the # thinks its a good idea to invent a horrible disease to kill something as cute as rabbits? What the # is wrong with people? How many diseases have been invented to kill people?

If you have ever seen a rabbit plague in full swing, of which we have here in Australia on a regular basis, you will understand why something needed to be done to cull the population.

Rabbits, in plague proportions, can not only destroy crops but they also dig up the farmland for their burrows and eat all the livestock food. You can tell a rabbit plague has been through an area when all you can see if bare fields covered with dead or dying livestock and full of holes.

Originally posted by phroziac
Thats what guns are for. Atleast if you shoot them, they die before they know what happened. Humane kill. But to let them suffer is evil.

Do you have any conceivable idea how many bullets that would take? You do realise PLAGUE PROPORTIONS means millions upon millions of rabbits don't you? For crying out loud mate, get real.

reply to post by Samuelis


I have found the confusion. You stated the cause was a virus, and said the transmission was from the Devils feeding off infected rabbits. That would mean it is NOT a transmissable cancer. You were wrong, it is a NON viral cancer and is transmitted mostly by Devils biting each other and non infected Devils feeding on something an infected Devil has fed on.

So yes, it is tranmissable, you were correct. Much of what else you posted is wrong, and that wrong information was the basis of my earlier assumption.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04


Haha much of what else I wrote was incorrect?

I think we are discussing the definition of contagious.

con·ta·gious (kn-tjs) adj. 1. Of or relating to contagion. 2. Transmissible by direct or indirect contact; communicable: a contagious disease. 3. Capable of transmitting disease; carrying a disease: stayed at home until he was no longer contagious. 4. Spreading or tending to spread from one to another; infectious: a contagious smile.

The cancer in said devils is transferred via contact. Thus making it contagious, to other devils.