Jamie Donnelly The Pima Animal Care Center is urging owners to vaccinate their outdoor-housed rabbits against Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus after the disease began appearing in local pets.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus, also known as RHDV2, is an introduced virus that causes rampant, swift death in domestic and wild rabbits, the news release said. The virus causes fever, lethargy, hemorrhage, seizures and acute deaths in rabbits. The disease is not contagious to other animals or humans, the news release said. It has been detected in pet rabbits, rabbit food and wild rabbit populations. Southern Arizona now lists the disease as “endemic,” meaning it can’t be eradicated.
“So far, the number of infected rabbits has been fairly small, but we want pet owners to take precautions, because this virus is deadly,” Wilcox said. “We have not seen any rabbits survive RHDV2. Ideally, all pet rabbits should be vaccinated twice and housed indoors.”