A final meeting to share and disseminate results from the project concerning the Iberian Peninsula was held at CIBIO (Vairão, Portugal) on July 20. The coordinator invited other LAGMED partners (Esther Blanco, Juan Bárcena, Carlos Rouco and Antonio Lavazza) to present their perspectives and strategies to improve preventive actions to emerging lagoviruses of the Mediterranean basin. Each talk was followed by very interesting discussions with veterinarians, rabbit producers, researchers and wildlife managers.

Photo: Carlos Rouco and Joana Abrantes

The last LAGMED meeting was held in Brescia (Italy) on 20-21 June. Partners were able to finally meet in-person and share their results, with very interesting talks and fruitful discussions. New projects are welcome to keep collaborating!

The International Virus Bioinformatics Meeting took place in Valencia (Spain) on 24-26 May. It was a great opportunity to share results and to network with experienced researchers in the bioinformatics field. The MSc student Filipa Carneiro (photo) was presenting her tool to retrieve primers from the literature and help researchers worldwide in finding the best primers for their purpose.

The last year of project LAGMED is already running. To share the results of the work, a closing seminar was organized by the Tunisian partner, entitled “Amélioration des actions préventives contre les lagovirus émergents dans le bassin méditerranéen: développement et optimisation de méthodes de détection et de contrôle des pathogènes”. This was held in Hôtel Barcelo Concorde, Les Berges du Lac, Tunis (Tunisia) on May 23. The presence of more than 30 researchers, veterinarians and stakeholders is a signal of the need of this project to the society, reinforcing the importance of dissemination for a successful project.

Still due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 3rd year meeting of the LAGMED project was held online. All partners shared their progress and looking forward to meet in-person next year in Brescia, Italy!

On the scope of project LIFE Iberconejo, the conference Iberconejo took place in Mértola, on September 13-14, dedicated to monitoring systems of European rabbit, to address current protocols and move towards a better management of the populations. LAGMED researchers Joana Abrantes, Carlos Rouco, Esther Blanco (in the photo) and Juan Bárcena were present at the event, as the consortium strives to cooperate and find synergies that ultimately lead to the conservation of the European rabbit in the Iberian Peninsula.

The World Lagomorph Conference, which took place in Montpellier (France) from 4-9 July, was an opportunity to gather and exchange knowledge between lagomorph enthusiasts worldwide, from the USA to Australia, passing through Africa and Europe. LAGMED members attended the conference and organized the workshop “Present, past and future of (un)known lagoviruses affecting lagomorphs” with ca. 30 attendees and 13 oral presentations. From the consortium, the following results were presented:

• The role of recombination in the emergence and evolution of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). Abrantes et al (oral presentation).
• Comparison of the impact of both variants of rabbit haemorrhagic disease on European wild rabbit populations based on Spanish national hunting bags. Aguayo-Adán et al (oral presentation).
• Multiple introductions of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 in Africa. Ben Chehida et al (oral presentation).
• Recombination between viral genomes as a potential mechanism for speciation: the example of rabbit hemorrhagic disease type 2 (RHDV2) – BG12. Cavadini et al (oral presentation).
• Emerging European brown hare syndrome virus in Lepus europaeus in Spain. Estruch et al (oral presentation).
• Detection and differentiation of RHDV genotypes GI.1 and GI.2 by a duplex lateral flow assay. Fresco-Taboada et al (oral presentation).
• Retrospective study in French and Belgian European hare populations gives new insights into EBHSV and RHDV2 (Lagovirus europaeus/GII.1 and /GI.2) epidemiology. Lemaitre et al (oral presentation).
• RHDV2 is likely to cross the species barrier in mammals: investigations of virus infection in wild species in France. Meloni et al (poster presentation).
• Elucidating European rabbit gut microbiome composition to infer individual susceptibility to RHD in wild populations. Rouco et al (poster presentation).

LAGMED members attended the XV SECEM Congress – Córdoba, Spain, December 4-7, and presented the following results:
– Las plagas de topillo campesino (Microtus arvalis) pueden estar empujando a la liebre ibérica (Lepus granatensis) a una situación de “Trampa de la enfermedad” – oral presentation by Carlos Rouco
– Immunological status of the European rabbit populations against rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus in Portugal (2017-2020) – oral presentation by Joana Abrantes
– Analysis of the role of flies in the epidemiology of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 in Portugal – poster presentation by Ana M. Lopes

As for the first year meeting, COVID-19 pandemic did not allow an in-person meeting this year. A meeting with all partners was held by video-conference on October 7-8, 2021. Each partner presented their progress in the different work packages and shared the planned activities for the 3rd year. Despite all the constraints caused by the lockdowns and restrictions imposed in laboratory access, all partners were committed with LAGMED and in achieving the goals of this project. Hopefully, a final meeting will be held in-person to strengthen the collaborations.

LAGMED members attended the 69th WDA / 14th EWDA – Joint Virtual Conference – Cuenca, Spain August 31 – September 2, 2021, and presented the following results:

• “Impact of the genomic architecture of Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 recombinants in the clinical course of rabbit hemorrhagic disease”
• “Decreased immunity of wild rabbits against rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus in Azores (2015- 2019)”
• “Spillover event of recombinant Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2 into the Iberian hare Lepus granatensis in Spain”
• “First report of GI.2 in a Cape hare Lepus capensis from Africa”
• “European Brown hare syndrome in Catalonia, Spain: from a single event to epizootic?”

COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Year 1 meeting into a virtual format. Meetings were held by video-conference between November 3-6, 2020, and, in order to facilitate communication, meetings were arranged between consortium coordinator, co-coordinator and remaining team members with the members of each partner.

The different partners presented the work developed during Year 1 of project LAGMED, showing promising results for Year 2, despite the delays caused by the pandemic. Additional meetings were then scheduled between partners enrolled in the same tasks.

Decision on the location and date of Year 2 meeting was kept on hold.

LAGMED was present at XI Jornadas de Cunicultura da ASPOC/VII Jornadas de Cunicultura da APEZ in UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal.

More details here: http://aspoc.pt/wp/home/jornadasaspoc/

The LAGMED kickoff meeting took place on September 25, 2019, at CIBIO/InBIO-University of Porto, Portugal. Members of the Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Tunisian teams were present while the Algerian team joined by video-conference.

Following a short recap of the LAGMED project, including its objectives and expected impacts, the Algerian and Tunisian teams provided an overview of RHDV in Africa. Discussion of particular aspects of the work packages that start in Year 1 of the LAGMED project allowed a full and complete vision of the role of each of the consortium members in the project.

Next meeting was suggested to be held in Tunisia in September 2020.