Rabbit owners should ensure their animals are secured and must prevent any contact with other rabbits or hares, either directly or indirectly through people or equipment.
The department of agriculture, land reform and rural development gave this warning on Thursday as it announced the outbreak of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in the Western Cape and Northern Cape.
RHD is a disease caused by a virus (Calicivirus) and this is the first detection of the disease in SA. The department said the disease results in a high number of deaths in rabbits and hares. The animals die suddenly with bleeding in organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen.
The department said it received reports of deaths of wild rabbits and hares from the Karoo areas in the two provinces. The department said state veterinary services, private veterinarians and the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment were involved in field investigations.
“Postmortems were performed and samples collected to confirm the cause of death and the cause was confirmed as RHD.”
The department said it was still unclear how the disease could have entered the country, since the importation of rabbits and hares is not allowed.
“Investigations are under way to determine whether illegal importation could be the source.”
The department said control of RHD in rabbitries relies mainly on vaccination, but the vaccine was not available in South Africa.
“This increases the importance of biosecurity measures in rabbitries and anywhere where rabbits or hares are kept.”
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Rabbit haemorrhagic disease outbreak detected for first time in SA
Rabbit owners should ensure their animals are secured and must prevent any contact with other rabbits or hares, either directly or indirectly through people or equipment.
The department of agriculture, land reform and rural development gave this warning on Thursday as it announced the outbreak of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) in the Western Cape and Northern Cape.
RHD is a disease caused by a virus (Calicivirus) and this is the first detection of the disease in SA. The department said the disease results in a high number of deaths in rabbits and hares. The animals die suddenly with bleeding in organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen.
The department said it received reports of deaths of wild rabbits and hares from the Karoo areas in the two provinces. The department said state veterinary services, private veterinarians and the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment were involved in field investigations.
“Postmortems were performed and samples collected to confirm the cause of death and the cause was confirmed as RHD.”
The department said it was still unclear how the disease could have entered the country, since the importation of rabbits and hares is not allowed.
“Investigations are under way to determine whether illegal importation could be the source.”
The department said control of RHD in rabbitries relies mainly on vaccination, but the vaccine was not available in South Africa.
“This increases the importance of biosecurity measures in rabbitries and anywhere where rabbits or hares are kept.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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