NCEIV17 0-0715 Flashcards
Lesson 17
Lesson 17 A man-made disease
In the early da
In the early days of the settlement of Australia, enterprising settlers unwisely introduced the European rabbit.
This rabbit had
This rabbit had no natural enemies in the Antipodes, so that it multiplied with that promiscuous abandon characteristic of rabbits.
It overran a wh
It overran a whole continent.
It caused devas
It caused devastation by burrowing and by devouring the herbage which might have maintained millions of sheep and cattle.
Scientists disc
Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit (and apparently no other animal) was susceptible to a fatal virus disease, myxomatosis.
By infecting an
By infecting animals and letting them loose in the burrows, local epidemics of this disease could be created.
Later it was fo
Later it was found that there was a type of mosquito which acted as the carrier of this disease and passed it on to the rabbits.
So while the re
So while the rest of the world was trying to get rid of mosquitoes, Australia was encouraging this one.
It effectively
It effectively spread the disease all over the continent and drastically reduced the rabbit population.
It later became
It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance to this disease, so that the rabbit population was unlikely to be completely exterminated.
There were hope
There were hopes, however, that the problem of the rabbit would become manageable.
Ironically, Eur
Ironically, Europe, which had bequeathed the rabbit as a pest to Australia, acquired this man-made disease as a pestilence.
A French physic
A French physician decided to get rid of the wild rabbits on his own estate and introduced myxomatosis.
It did not, how
It did not, however, remain within the confines of his estate.
