A plague on the pest rabbit calicivirus disease and biological control
Glossary
biological control. A strategy for the control of pests or disease-causing organisms that relies on the use of other living organisms rather than chemical pesticides.
Cactoblastis cactorum. A moth whose larval stage (caterpillars) feed on prickly pear.
calicivirus. A family of very small viruses, different species of which cause diseases in several animal species. One species causes haemorrhagic diseases in rabbits (called rabbit calicivirus disease or rabbit haemorrhagic disease). This disease rapidly kills mature but not young rabbits, but affects no other animal species.
habitat. 1. The place normally occupied by a particular organism or population.
2. The sum of all the factors that determine the existence of a community (eg, the freshwater habitat).
host. An organism on or in which a parasite lives.
immunity. A body's reaction to the introduction of foreign substances, through the production of defensive substances such as antibodies.
myxoma virus. (Also referred to as myxomatosis virus.) The virus that causes myxomatosis in rabbits.
myxomatosis. A disease in rabbits caused by the myxoma virus, transmitted by mosquitoes and fleas.
organism. Any living thing, whether single celled or many celled.
parasite. An organism that lives on or in an organism of a different species (the host) and gains some advantage at the host's expense.
population. All the organisms of one species that inhabit a given area.
population density. The total number of individuals of a species per unit area. Using density instead of total number gives a basis for comparison between numbers in different places or from time to time in the same place.
resistance (biological). The ability to withstand the effects of a disease-causing organism.
vector. An organism that transmits parasites, viruses or bacteria from one host to another.
virulence. The degree to which a disease-causing organism can affect the organism it attacks.
virus. A submicroscopic infectious agent consisting of a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) molecule surrounded by a protein coat. Viruses cannot replicate outside a living cell. More information can be found at How viruses work (How Stuff Works, USA).
Posted February 1997.