Experimental infection of young rabbits with rabbit parvovirus.

A newly isolated parvovirus of rabbits (F-7-9 strain) was inoculated into young female rabbits by the oral or intravenous route. Virus was recovered from the feces 3 to 13 days after inoculation. Viremia was demonstrated in orally inoculated rabbits. The virus was also isolated from tissue extracts of liver, pancreas, spleen, small intestine, appendix and mesenteric lymph node on days 10 and/or 14, and from the small intestine on day 30 after inoculation. Hemagglutination inhibiting antibody appeared in the serum after 8 days and neutralizing antibody was detected later. An 11S neutralizing antibody was demonstrated in fecal extracts between 15 and 30 days after inoculation. Infected rabbits showed very mild clinical signs of listlessness and inappetence lasting for a few days. Histologically, mild to moderate catarrhal enteritis was observed in the small intestine.