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Kaitlyn Ross & Cambria Whitted
April 4, 2024
Cozy rabbit hutches reside on every wall in the big barn. Rabbits are happily hopping around, excited to see a new person in their home. This is what a rabbitry should look like, but sometimes they have rabbits who are sitting, lethargic, in corners of their cages. At first, it might seem like the owner just isn’t taking care of them, but most of the time, that isn’t the case.
Why is this a problem?
Myxomatosis is a deadly disease that “lives among the wild rabbit population. We don't know because it doesn't hurt them… domestic rabbits are very easily affected and die almost 100% of the time when they get it,” Dr. Lynnell Hanson, Associate Veterinarian at Town and Country, said.
According to the Northern Arizona University article on Myxomatosis, “The myxoma virus caused a massive epidemic among European rabbits that had no previous exposure to it. Both populations experienced genetic changes in their populations while adapting to each other: rabbits that survived had increased resistance and surviving virus strains had decreased virulence.” Northern Arizona University.
Myxomatosis is a deadly virus that attacks domestic rabbits and wild rabbits. Wild rabbits are less likely to contract the virus because they typically have antibodies to protect against it.
This disease, which is only to be seen in rabbits every 5-10 years, is almost 100 percent lethal.
Myxomatosis is a virus released in Australia and throughout Europe in 1950 that was spread among the wild rabbit population. “It only really affects the domestic rabbits that come in contact with it,” Dr. Lynnel said.
“The goal when releasing this virus was population control for wild rabbits,” Dr. Lynnell said.
But because the rabbit population has gone down over the years, the virus was definitely not on purpose, but by accident. The population of rabbits going down dramatically has not been people’s fault, but the rapid growth of the mosquitoes population.
The mosquito population comes up every summer when pond water, is still so they can repopulate. Mosquitos are the biggest carriers of the virus, so when the virus typically arises most when the mosquito population also rises.
Since this infection is not very commonly brought up, not many people worry or know about it. If people own rabbits, everyone should know about this sickness that happens only in rabbits and can be spread from bunny to bunny by human contact or any other animal touching the infected animal and bringing it to another bunny after that.
Some scientists found out that this infection is caused by the biting of mosquitoes; usually during the spring into summer time. By this time, mosquitoes are breeding and need more blood than usual because they are reproducing during this time.
According to the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, humans can spread it between rabbits on their hands and clothes by contact but “it cannot be spread from rabbit to human, even through a mosquito bite.”
This condition is in their genes even before they are born and came off their parents up to the generation of rabbits that were aboard the ship that arrived in Australia. However, some rabbits don’t get it as frequently as others when there is 5-10 years for them to get it.
For example, if one rabbit survives one predicament one year as a baby, when the rabbit is grown up when another one of these circumstances come, the rabbit might get the disease then.
“The study, published in the journal Science, reveals that modern rabbits in Australia, the UK and France have acquired resistance to myxomatosis through the same genetic evolution. The team also found that this resistance relies on the cumulative impact of multiple mutations of different genes.” The University of Oxford said.
According to Blue Cross, symptoms of Myxomatosis include swelling of the nose, mouth, eyes, and genitals. The rabbit may also have a fever or act lethargic .
Due to the swelling and fever, the rabbit will overheat or the swelling will constrict breathing and internal organs, causing death.
Unfortunately, the virus is almost 100% fatal even with immediate treatment. We broached this subject with Poppy Manahan, a rabbit breeder based in Ashland.
“Intensive Palliative care is often the only choice,” she said. “And it is expensive-- time, money, and emotion. Even if the rabbit survives, its health is very poor, so it is very susceptible to any virus, bacteria, or stress.”
According to Tiptree Vets, the virus is often not noticeable until up to 14 days after contamination, which makes it hard to stop the spread once it is in your rabbitry.
When talking to Dr. Lynnell, the idea of a vaccination was discussed.
There is a vaccine, she said, but due to the fact that it is a live vaccine, there are fears of consequences that may come with it, including the virus spreading through the vaccination.
Even though the virus is most common here on the west coast, “we don't have what they call an outbreak situation; therefore, the USDA has said that they won’t bring in the vaccine,” she said.
How to Prevent Contamination
How to Prevent Contamination
If you have rabbits, there are some ways to prevent them from being contaminated.
Keep your bunnies inside. if you're coming into contact with wild rabbits, really decontaminate yourself before touching other bunnies. Mosquito-proof netting helps keep the rabbits away from the vector or being that transmits the disease, Dr. Lynnell said.
How This May Change
How This May Change
Many things come into play when talking about a disease. Vectors, the environment, the way people do things, and how they are educated are just a few of the factors that can affect the change in this virus.
“Oregon and California are the range of the CA Brush Rabbit, so reducing the virus reservoir,” Manahan said, can help decrease the spread. Reducing the virus reservoir means culling some of the population.
The reservoir may also decrease on its own due to human behaviors, she said.
“Climate change may affect the spread and vectors of this virus,” she said. If the environment heats up more, then the mosquitos will rise in numbers, which means that there will be more vectors to spread the virus.
“Even if you think you don’t like bunnies, I bet there is someone in your life who does. Also, even if they are not pets, rabbits can be considered a livestock species. That is an entire market that can crash if we don’t try our best to maintain the biosecurity and try to prevent this as much as possible,” Dr. Lynnell said.
If your rabbit or bunny gets this virus, there is no way you can get the medicine needed to help them. But there are a couple ways you can prevent this from happening: keep your rabbits away from the others if they have the symptoms, take up mosquito netting, and during the summer, keep your rabbits inside or away from outdoors so it could be harder for mosquitos to get in.
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