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In the 50s, Australia unleashed a bioweapon against a hated enemy.
Thread...
Thread...
Their enemy was the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, which had proliferated beyond all expectations. Their weapon, an insect-borne poxvirus called myxomavirus...
They had copped this virus from American Sylvilagus rabbits, in which it is rather benign...
They already knew European rabbits would suffer lethal disease with myxomavirus. So they let it rip!...
Did it work?
Yes, spectacularly.
At first...
Yes, spectacularly.
At first...
There was an immediate 90% decrease in rabbits. Success!
But Oz's contentment faded in a year, as rabbits proliferated.
(They're RABBITS!
)...
But Oz's contentment faded in a year, as rabbits proliferated.
(They're RABBITS!
)...
What we learned in this first-of-its-kind experiment? Turns out virus grew more benign, and the rabbits more resistant (those not resistant had died out, cf Darwin...).
This is a CLASSIC experiment in virology now, what happens when a naive population encounters a new pathogen. Immortalized bybthe AWESOME account of virology titan Frank Fenner.
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