Olund says there are vaccinations for domestic rabbits and it's important to speak to a veterinarian about them. "I know it's really tempting with all the great vegetables people are bringing in from their garden, but if a wild rabbit that has been in contact with RHDV runs through your garden, that is a way that the disease can come into your house."
"Don't bring in any food from outside right now," said Olund.
She recommends people with pet rabbits take their shoes off once inside their home and wash their hands to prevent the spread. "A virus can cling to clothing, shoes… so if somebody's walking in an area that a rabbit that's been infected with RHDV (has been), it gets transmitted to its next location," she said. Lisa Olund is the Calgary Humane Society's associate director of operations and says while Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus is specific to rabbits, people still need to take precautions. "We want to keep an eye on if it's making a move from those feral domestic rabbits into our native rabbit and hare populations." "We would like to see how the virus is spreading throughout Calgary," Davies said. If you find several dead feral rabbits, you're asked to contact the City of Calgary by calling 311, so the deaths can be recorded. "I know at Nose Hill Park, there were about 50 to 60 rabbits there and there's like one left" she said. "We do get a lot of messages from the public, we get a lot of pictures from the public, (people are) just trying to figure out where it's going and how fast it's moving."Īmanda says once the disease enters a colony it doesn't take long to spread. "Because we want to protect our animals, so we're avoiding parts of the city where the (dead) rabbits are. "I've been posting, just asking for information to know where," said Amanda. They say they've been contacted by people all over the city who have found dead rabbits, but there isn't much they can do. Signs of the disease include bleeding from the nose or eyes.Īmanda and Rosemary Greening started Against All Odds Rabbit Rescue in 2012. "They're highly susceptible – and given the nature of this virus and the high mortality rates associated with it – we can expect to see pretty significant mortalities in this naive population." "Because this is a new virus, an emerging virus in this area, these rabbits won't have any immunity right now," said Davies. In Calgary, a feral rabbit tested positive for the disease in the spring of 2022, but Davies says it really took off in late August.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease was first spotted in British Columbia in 2018 and made its way into Alberta in 2021. She says there are a number of areas in the city that have large colonies of feral rabbits, all of which have been hit hard by the disease. Jennifer Davies says Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHDV) is highly contagious and can wipe out large numbers of the animal in just a few days.ĭavies is a trained veterinary pathologist, and serves as director of the diagnostic services unit and as an associate professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. A professor from the University of Calgary is warning the public about a fast-moving disease that has killed many of Calgary's feral rabbits.ĭr.
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