SCIENTISTS are studying the potential for
a new, more potent strain of the rabbitkilling calicivirus after the failure of the existing virus in large parts of Australia's
temperate regions. The government's
chief scientist, Brian Cooke, said after
the calicivirus' stunning debut in
Australia's arid regions, the calicivirus
was performing well below expectations
in cooler areas, mainly in Victoria and
New South Wales.
The initial result sent a wrong message and scientists thought extra efforts
were not needed. "We want to see why it
is not working well here. We probably
hoped it would work well over a much
bigger area. Perhaps it has not gone as
far as I would have hoped," Cooke said.
The flagging performance of the
disease has prompted a drive to get
landowners to resume traditional rabbit
eradication programmes, such as baiting and fumigation. Government scien-
tists also have begun working on a programme to determine if temperate
regions need a supercharged strain or a
new dose of the calicivirus to boost the
performance.
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