Rabbit hemorrhagic 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 haemorrhagic disease (RHD), rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD), rabbit calici-virus disease (RCVD), and viral hemorrhagic disease of rabbits (VHDR).

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.