Explain how the use of biological control to decrease the population of introduced European rabbits in Australia relates to immunology
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The natural host for the myxoma virus is the South American jungle rabbit, and because this host and pathogen co-evolved together, jungle rabbits are only very mildly affected by the pathogen. If the myxomavirus is to be used as a biological control agent, the virus needs to be highly virulent to the new host and the virus needs an appropriate vector (for example biting insects such as mosquitoes or fleas) to effectively transmit it from one rabbit to another. European rabbits were a novel host to the myxoma virus, and the virus spread by blood-sucking insects, was so effective as a biological control agent, it initially killed 99.8% of the European rabbit population in Australia. Over the next seven years, however, the death rate of rabbits declined as the immune system of these rabbits became less sensitive to the pathogen, due to natural selection. Understanding how species adapt immunologically to pathogens provides important information for the understanding and management of pathogen outbreaks in animal (non-human) and human populations.
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