Finally, something that does not involve the Corona virus! It does involve another highly contagious and highly fatal viral disease of animals, specifically bunnies, both pet and wild species. It is not contagious to people (not zoonotic). Rabbit Hemorrhagic Fever is not new in the world but is new in the United States. Worldwide, there are 2 different strains, RHFV1 and RHFV2. The latest outbreak here in Texas is RHFV2, and it spread from New Mexico this month, mostly from wild rabbits because of the coronavirus has cancelled all the rabbit shows.
Who? We have several pools of rabbits in Texas. I mostly deal with individual pet rabbits, but some people raise rabbits commercially for show or meat or fur. There are Rabbit Shows just like there are Dog Shows. I saw hundreds of rabbits at the Fort Worth Stock Show in February. Wild bunnies, like jackrabbits and cottontails, are a slightly different species but are also affected by RHFV2. Currently, RHFV2 is limited to rabbits, domestic and wild, in the Texas Panhandle (Lubbock) and TransPecos (El Paso) parts of Texas
What? It is a virus from the calicivirus family (not coronavirus). For the symptoms, think Ebola for rabbits. This virus causes life threatening bleeding in a matter of days, from exposure to symptoms, and they die quickly by bleeding out.
“The time from infection to first signs of disease may be up to nine days. Affected rabbits may develop a fever and die within 36 hours. Infected rabbits may appear dull and be reluctant to eat; have congested membranes around the eyes; show signs of nervousness, incoordination or excitement; and/or make paddling movements. They may have trouble breathing. Upon death, they may have a blood-stained, frothy nasal discharge. Infection with the RHD virus causes lesions throughout internal organs and tissues, particularly the liver, lungs and heart, resulting in bleeding. Mortality rates range between 40% and 100% for RHDV/RHDVa and 5% and 70% for RHDV2.” Lisa Wogen, VIN, April 14,2020.
How? How did this virus get here? We are not sure, but it is in Texas now. For wild rabbits, it is easily spread through birds and lice and biting insects. For domestic rabbits (pets and rabbitries), it is easily spread from materials such as bedding, food, water, and clothing of handlers. If all bunnies “self-isolate” from others, they cannot catch it through the air. This is easy enough for pet bunnies, maybe hard for commercial rabbittries, but impossible for wild rabbits.
Where? Currently, it in just in far West Texas and the Panhandle. We fear it will spread in wild rabbits to the DFW area eventually. When it is here, we will have to think twice about letting house bunnies outside to play in the backyard.
When? Now is the best time to start strict biosecurity if you have bunnies or visit friends with bunnies. In Spain and France, there are approved vaccines for RHFV1 and RHFV2, but we do not have easy access to those. Vets in Texas are pooling together to get special permission to import vaccine, but we do not have a price or timeline yet. Stay tuned.
Why? We don’t think this was intentional or malicious, unlike the outbreak in Australia in the 1990s to control wild rabbits. It just happened.
This is big news in the bunny world. I will be “hopping” to stay on top of it!
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/fs-rhdv2.pdf
https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/brochures/TAHCBrochure_BiosecurityRabbit.pdf
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/rabbit_hemorrhagic_disease.pdf
https://tscra.org/viral-disease-confirmed-in-wild-texas-rabbits-die-offs-reported/