Viral haemorrhagic disease

Rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD) is a highly contagious disease that affects only rabbits of the Oryctolagus cuniculus species. VHD is also known as  rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD). It is caused by the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), also known as rabbit calicivirus (RCV).

There are a number of different strains of RHD. Currently RHDV2 (VHD-2), a strain found in France in 2010, is spreading throughout Europe. The UK does not have access to a vaccine that is effective against the new strain. Work on importing the new version of the vaccine is under-way. See the for more information.

Joe Carey (UK), author of the VHD-2 facts sheet, contacted Dr. Ghislaine Le Gall-Reculé PhD (in charge of research and scientific/technical studies on rabbit and hare caliciviroses & main author of the French research paper) asking about VHD-2. Responce here.

If you are in the Netherlands you can read: "Bunny owners warned of new hemorrhagic disease killing Dutch rabbits" by the NL Times. More Dutch information here. If you find a dead wild rabbit contact the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) to report it.