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Classic and Recombinant Myxoma Viruses Were Found Together in Pooled Tissue From Two Hares in West Hungary

Wild European hare in natural habitat
Research: Disease, parasites & microbiology, Genetics & genomics

A molecular study published in 2026 detected both classic myxoma virus (MYXV) and the hare-adapted recombinant form ha-MYXV in material from two European hares (Lepus europaeus) found dead in western Hungary. The two adult females were discovered about 20 metres apart near the same hunting ground in October 2025.

Skin tissue with lesions characteristic of myxomatosis had been pooled from the two hares for laboratory analysis. Earlier examination of the same cases had confirmed a classic MYXV strain, but the new study investigated the material more deeply using virus isolation in rabbit kidney cell cultures, targeted PCR and whole-genome sequencing.

The cell cultures and molecular tests were positive for both virus types. Whole-genome sequencing separated a classic strain from a recombinant hare-adapted strain. The classic genome was 99.9% identical to the virulent Lausanne reference strain, while the recombinant virus carried the characteristic inserted block of four gene copies associated with ha-MYXV.

Because tissue from the two hares had been combined before the molecular work, the researchers stress that the data cannot establish which individual carried which strain or whether either single hare was coinfected. The study nevertheless shows that both virus types were present in the pooled material from the two hares found at the same locality.

Sources and image credit

  1. Kollár, A., Kaszab, E., Fehér, E., Gál, J., & Tenk, M. (2026). Simultaneous detection of classic and natural recombinant myxoma virus strains in European brown hare population in West Hungary. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 13, 1882161. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2026.1882161Primary open-access research article published 30 July 2026. Virus isolation, PCR and whole-genome sequencing of pooled tissue from two European hares found dead in western Hungary detected both classic MYXV and hare-adapted recombinant ha-MYXV; the authors note that pooling prevents conclusions at the individual-hare level.

Image: Stig Nygaard — wild European Hare in Denmark, 26 July 2021. Source: Wikimedia Commons / Flickr. CC BY 2.0. Representative living species image; not one of the two hares in the West Hungary myxoma-virus study. · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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Disease, parasites & microbiology

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