An American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Report: Rabbit hemorrhagic disease’s spread appears to be slowing
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease’s spread appears to be slowing
By Coco Lederhouse, July 13, 2023
Since the latest strain of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2 (RHDV-2) was first detected more than three years ago, it continues to spread in North American wild rabbit and hare populations, but reports of detections are greatly reduced.
An outbreak of the highly infectious and lethal virus that affects lagomorphs was first confirmed in late March and early April of 2020 in New Mexico in domestic rabbits and wild rabbits and hares. Since then, it’s been identified in domestic and wild species in 28 U.S. states, 19 Mexican states, and four Canadian provinces. In California, RHDV-2 spread widely across several southern counties between 2020 and 2021.