Abstract: This study aimed to understand the infection situation of suspected rabbit hemorrhagic virus type 2 (RHDV2) in Henan province, and preliminarily analyze the pathogenicity of RHDV2. The liver tissues of dead rabbits were collected, then the microblood coagulation assays, RT-PCR amplification and sequencing, VP60 gene phylogenetic tree analysis and animal regression test were conducted to identify the pathogen. The results of the microblood coagulation assay showed that the tissue sample suspension were able to produce a lect reaction with the human type "O" red blood cells; RT-PCR showed the detection of RHDV2-specific bands, the fragment size was 829 bp; Results of the phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the VP60 gene similarity was as high as 98.2% between the isolated virus and the first RHDV2 strain SC2020/04 found in Sichuan; The autopsy of clinical cases showed that the bleeding of thymus, trachea, lung, liver, spleen, kidney and other substantial organs was more serious; Animal regression test showed that the mortality rate of rabbits was 100% and the average death time was 65.8 h after challenge test, and the specific bands of RHDV2 were detected by RT-PCR amplification. In conclusion, the RHDV2 virus was detected for the first time in the rabbit field in Henan Province, which provided a scientific reference for the scientific and reasonable prevention and control of RHDV2.

Key words: RHDV, RHDV2, VP60 gene, RT-PCR, pathogenicity