Detection of virus in connection with "European brown hare syndrome" in Hesse, F.R.G.

Materials from the liver of a wild-living hare (Lepus europeus pallas) which had died from "European Brown Hare Syndrome" (EBHS) and of two hares kept in captivity which had been experimentally infected with the same material and died after two days with the classical signs of EBHS (Eskens and Volmer, 1989) were investigated for the presence of virus particles by electron microscopy using the negative contrast technique. Virus particles of 32 nm in diameter were found in all three samples investigated. The same particles were detected in the filtered inoculum used for experimental infection and in the supernatant of the first three passages of feline embryonic cell cultures. Haemagglutination or haemadsorption could not be achieved with the material investigated.