Wild rabbit virus fears

OUR VET DAVID GRANT WORKS HIS MAGIC

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Q I have read about a disease wiping out wild rabbits in the countryside where I live. Do you have any more information? Does it pose a risk to my pair of three-year-old indoor rabbits?

A There has been a dramatic decrease in wild rabbit numbers in the UK - between 1995 and 2018, 53%, down, on average. But in other areas, such as the East Midlands, it was 88% and in Scotland 83%.

This epidemic shows no signs of slowing down. The cause is rabbit haemorrhagic disease, which has a very high mortality rate.

Since its initial diagnosis in China in 1984 the virus has spread worldwide, arriving in the UK in 1992.

The virus is known as RHDV1, and in 2010 a new highly contagious strain, RHDV2, emerged. This strain is an important cause of the massive decline in the UK wild rabbit population that we are now seeing.