The owners of pet rabbits are being urged to ensure their rabbit’s vaccinations are up-to-date as another strain of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus is released on March 1 to control the wild rabbit population.
Released as a live virus in a solution in chopped carrots, the rabbit calicivirus K5 strain is aimed at reducing the expanding wild rabbit population, but it can also affect pet rabbits too.
While the annual Cyclap vaccination provides protection against the first strain of the disease released in Australia in 1996, while highly likely the vaccine will protect against the K5 strain, the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has been recommending that pet rabbits now be vaccinated every six months.
Wentworth Falls Animal Hospital practice owner and vet Dr Steve Gibson said the practice would be following AVA recommendations to vaccinate adult rabbits every six months and rabbits under 12 weeks at four, eight and 12 weeks of age and a booster a month later.
He also recommended keeping rabbits inside for six months from March.
“If you keep the rabbit inside you are limiting its contact with vectors like flies and mozzies that have been in contact with other rabbits [that could be carrying the disease].
“Mozzie-proof the cage if the rabbit has to stay outside," Dr Gibson said.
He recommended vaccinating as soon as possible as it takes 14 days for the vaccine to provide immunity.
Dr Gibson said the practice had seen three cases of rabbits succumbing to the virus in the past year.
According to the AVA, another variation of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus, RHDV2, was discovered in Canberra in 2015 and has been detected in wild rabbits in greater Sydney.
The current vaccine does not provide full protection against this virus.
RHDV2 was first reported in France in 2010 and has been found in several other European countries.
While an updated vaccine has been developed in Europe, it is not currently available in Australia.
