Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD): Protecting Your Rabbit from RHDV2
If you have a pet rabbit, you may have heard about Rabbit Hemorrhagic Virus. The team at Heights Hospital for Animals in Yorktown Heights, NY is here to supply you with this important information for rabbit owners.
What Is Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease?
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease is a highly contagious, often fatal illness that affects rabbits and hares. RHDV2 (one of the causative caliciviruses of RHD) is particularly devastating, as it can affect both wild and domesticated rabbits.
What Are The Symptoms Of RHDV2?
One of the common symptoms of this disease is sudden death. This is why prevention is such an important part of keeping your rabbit safe. You may also see respiratory distress, lethargy, inappetence (loss of appetite), seizures, or bleeding from the eyes, nose, or rectum.
How Is RHDV2 Spread?
This virus can transmit both directly and indirectly. Rabbits can contract the virus if they have contact with infected rabbits (excretions or blood). They can also become infected by being exposed to contaminated water, food or vegetation, or even your clothing and shoes if you were in contact with an infected rabbit or in a contaminated environment. The virus can also be spread by mechanical vectors like predators, scavengers, and even insects. Some forms of this virus can cross between domesticated and wild rabbits, and it can remain in the environment long after an infected animal passes through.
Bedding, cages, toys, and similar items can also be contaminated with viral particles and can be a vector of infection.
Why Is Vaccination Important?
Because the first (and sometimes only) sign is sudden death, vaccination is extremely important for at-risk pets to protect them.
This particular virus is very hardy and can remain in the environment for an extended period of time, regardless of temperatures. Since it is hard to know if a wild or infected rabbit has been in an area recently, any contact with outdoor environments (or animals and objects in contact with the environment) can risk infection.
How Often Should Vaccination Occur?
The RHDV2 vaccine is an initial series of 2 vaccines administered 21 days apart, then administered once a year.
Beyond The Vaccine: Other Steps To Protect Your Rabbit
Vaccination is very important to protect your rabbit from this devastating virus, but it is not the only step you can take. Here are a few other preventative measures to minimize the risk to your pet:
- House your pet indoors if possible
- Avoid play dates and interactions with rabbits outside of your home
- Wash your hands and change clothes before interacting with your own rabbit if you came into contact with another rabbit
- Do not feed foods foraged outdoors
- Do not use bedding, chew toys, or caging from an unknown rabbit
- Remove shoes that were worn in or near wild rabbit habitats before interacting with your own pet
- Minimize insect exposure when possible (flies and mosquitoes especially)
- Quarantine all new pet rabbits for at least 14 days
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease can be devastating for rabbit owners. Thankfully, Dr. Modi and her team at Heights Hospital for Animals are here to help you protect your pet. As an exotic pet practice, we are glad to care for rabbits and other small mammals. Schedule an appointment to talk with Dr. Modi about the RHDV2 vaccine, or call us at (914) 962-5579.
