Animals

Two shipments of New Zealand White rabbits (70 rabbits shipment 1 [rabbit nos. AN1–AN20 and AH1–AH30] in June 2012 to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center [LSUHSC]; shipment 2 [rabbit nos. AH31–AH51] in October 2012) were obtained from supplier A at LSUHSC. Supplier A also provides rabbits to the meat production industry. A third shipment comprising 10 Dutch Belted SPF rabbits (nos. DB1–DB10) were obtained from supplier B in August 2012 at LSUHSC. Supplier B rabbits were SPF for Pasturella multocida, Pasturella pneumotropica, Bordetella brochiseptica, Treponema cuniculi, Clostridium piliformis, cilia-associated respiratory bacillus, Salmonella spp., Encephalitozoon cuniculi, Eimeria stiedae, Eimeria magna, Eimeria intestinalis, Eimeria irresidua, Eimeria flavescens, Eimeria piriformis, Toxoplasma gondii, Passalurus ambiguous, other helminths, parainfluenza virus 1, parainfluenza virus 2, reovirus, Psoroptes cuniculi, Cheyletiella parasitovorax, Leporacarus gibbus, and Dermatomycosis spp.

The rabbits’ care and use were approved by the LSUHSC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and were consistent with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (8) and the Animal Welfare Act (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/). The LSUHSC is fully accredited by American Association for the Assessment of Laboratory Animal Care, Int. The animals were singly housed in stainless steel rabbit cages (Suburban Surgical, Wheeling, IL, USA). On the day the rabbits arrived, blood was collected from each rabbit and stored for HEV testing. Rabbits from vendor A were treated for P. cuniculi and L. gibbus with selamectin (Pfizer New York, NY, USA). After arrival, the rabbits were acclimated to the facility for 7 days. After this period, they were used for research protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Sample Collection

Approximately 0.5–1 mL of blood was collected through the rabbits’ middle auricular artery with a 25-gauge butterfly catheter. The blood was placed into serum separator tubes for centrifugation. Serum was then placed into microcentrifuge tubes and stored at −20°C until analysis. Laboratory personnel changed gloves between blood collection from each rabbit and between contact with each sample when transferring serum.

HEV Infection and Outcome of Rabbit Model of Ocular HSV-1

The records of 30 animals from supplier A (AH1–AH30) were obtained retrospectively from an investigator who used the rabbits in an HSV-1 ocular keratitis study. Survival data and HEV antibody status were examined statistically to determine whether HEV status had any effect on the survival of the rabbits in the study. Briefly, 4 different strains of HSV-1 with different virulence levels were tested, including MCK D-gK, ICP0-delete, 17 syn + mutant, and McKrae. Rabbits were infected with these viruses, and keratitis score and survival rate were recorded.

ELISA

ELISA was performed by using the protocol from Cossaboom with a few modifications (1). Plates (Fischer Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) were coated with 6 µg HEV antigen (Clone# rHEV-ORF2; Feldan Bio Inc., Quebec, QC, Canada), incubated with 100 µL of rabbit serum diluted 10-fold in blocking buffer, and detected with horseradish peroxidase–conjugated secondary antibody (goat anti–rabbit IgG diluted 1:1000, Southern Biotech, Birmingham, AL, USA). The plates were read at 450 nm and 540 nm for correction on a SpectraMax M2 plate reader (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA, USA).

Statistical Analysis

ELISAs for HEV were performed in duplicate on each serum sample, and the results were averaged. A 1-way analysis of variance was performed to find the optical densities that were not statistically different from those of the negative controls. The values of the negative controls and the negative samples were then used to determine the cutoff points for the ELISA (mean of the negative samples + 3 SDs).

To evaluate the possible effect of HEV serology status on the survival of rabbits used in the HSV-1 study, we used the Fisher exact test when HSV-1 survival status was cross-tabulated with the HEV serology status. Odds ratios are also reported (SAS, version 9.3, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA); α was set at 0.05.

Prevalence of HEV in US Laboratory Rabbits

Figure 1

Figure 1. . Hepatitis E virus antibody detection for rabbits from supplier A, shipment 1 (June 2012, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center). Rabbits were purchased from supplier A. Serum was isolated and...

Figure 2

Figure 2. . Hepatitis E virus antibody detection for rabbits from suppliers A and B, shipments 2 (October 2012, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center [LSUHSC]) and 3 (8/2012 LSUHSC). Rabbits were purchased...

We found that the seroprevalence of HEV in the 70 rabbits from supplier A was 40%. The 10 rabbits from supplier B exhibited a 50% seroprevalence for HEV (Figures 1 and 2).

HEV Infection and Disease Outcome of HSV-1–infected Animals

HSV-1 outcome results revealed no significant association between positive serologic HEV status and frequency of HSV-1 signs. Prevalence of positive HEV status was 32% (6/19) , compared with 36% (4/11) (p = 0.298, odds ratio 1.238, 95% CI 0.2592–5.9132) for frequency of HSV-1 signs.