☢️EXTREMELY CRUIAL for Rabbit Owners to Read/ Breeders! ☢️
RHDV2 is a fatal disease in rabbits and is considered a foreign animal disease in the US. However we are now facing an outbreak in the South West and it is rapidly moving across the country! Please report if you see multiple dead wild rabbits to the state wildlife officials of NY. DO NOT TOUCH/BURY OR HANDLE IN ANY WAY dead rabbits you find.
This virus is very hardy and spreads very easily. It can spread via flies, mosquitoes, predators even human contact that can be contaminated.
It is hardy and can persist in an environment for quite a long time on fomites such as clothing, shoes, supplies etc. Bleach is an effective killer of the virus.
We practice very stick bio security with our cage cleaning, reduction of flying insects as well as reducing the numbers of shows we will go to this year. A vaccine is NOT available in the United States currently. Many rabbit breeders are actively reaching out to our state and local veterinarians to advocate for the vaccine to be available in the US before it is too late.
If one rabbit in a herd gets RHDV2 it is transmitted quickly and the entire herd can be required to be euthanized by USDA/state regulations.
Please do what you can to help stop the spread of this virus.
https://www.ktnv.com/news/fatal-rabbit-virus-spreads-to-southern-nevada