RHD outbreak near me, precautions?

[prince dorian the bun]

So there’s been a outbreak of RDH near me, the poor buns affected were indoor only house buns. I have been trying to get Dorian and Miu vaccinated for a while, but my vet didn’t offer it. I found another vet who is, but doing it as a clinic as they aren’t technically accepting new patients. More importantly I can’t get in until mid June, and it’s the two dose one.

What can I do in the meantime to limit risk?

I am stopping feeding them foraged greens for now. We don’t wear shoes in the house anyway, and wash hands before touching the buns when we come in from outside.  Anything else I can do?

Terrified of them catching it.

[LBJ10]

That’s scary! Hopefully you can get them vaccinated soon. The House Rabbit Society does give some biosecurity tips. Maybe you will find that helpful: https://rabbit.org/biosecurity-measures-to-reduce-rhd-risk-in-your-pet-rabbits/

[prince dorian the bun]

Thanks,  I found those after posting and there some from the WA state agriculture board. Some of the things I already do so that is good.

Really hoping the local shelter will set something up, as that be closer too. They are painfully understaffed and no longer have a vet though. At least I have the appointment for mid June. Still would be happier if it was sooner.

[Bam]

I have been in a similar situation, before we got the vaccine here in 2016, then again in 2018 when my Vilde first had to have the myxo- RVHD1-vaccin and the RVHD2-shot had to be given 2 weeks later.

We did all the bio-security measures and it went well, thank goodness. RVHD2 is pretty much endemic here now, as myxo has been for as long as I can remember. It’s so great that you have a vaccine now!

 

[DanaNM]

Aside from getting them vaccinated ASAP and the things you’re already doing, I would also be sure to prevent insects from coming inside and stop giving them time on the porch. Insects are a big source of transmission. They aren’t true vectors in that they aren’t a host for the virus, but if a fly lands on an infected rabbit or feeds on an infected carcass, just that fly walking on another rabbit is enough to transmit the virus.

Other sources of spread are droppings from carrion feeders (crows, foxes, coyotes, vultures, etc.). There’s some debate over the likelihood of transmission from salad greens, but when I was really paranoid I stop feeding greens from outbreak areas (which is basically all of CA and Mexico).

Even though they won’t be fully protected until after the second dose, they will get some immunity from the first one, so that’s great you got in for the mid-June clinic.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

Btw, I dont think regular treatment with Revolution will do much good. Revolution works by poisoning biting insects when they suck the blood of their hosts. But with RVHD (and some, but not all) vector-born diseases, its important to deter the insects from coming that close to the rabbit in the first place. There are insect-repellants (mainly compounds containing permethrin), but unfortunately none that are deemed 100% rabbit-safe. So mosquito netting is still the safest thing.

[Azerane]

In terms of unvaccinated indoor rabbits (which mine essentially are because the Australian vaccine doesn’t cover RHDV2), the biggest risk factors are flies/mosquitoes and your shoes/pants. If you live urban and don’t go walking in parks/nature areas there’s probably not a great deal of risk from shoes. I do walk in parks a lot that have wild rabbits so I never wear my hiking boots inside, and because I usually wear long pants I tend to take them off once I get in the front door and put them straight in the washing machine.

For insects, the best thing you can do is prevention. Some pots of mosquito repelling plants around your doors/windows. No open windows or doors unless you have fly screens to stop insects coming in. Fly and mosquito traps are also good to have inside just in case you do get some stray ones.

All in all, reduce the risks that you reasonably can. Even with precautions I could easily feed my pair some infected hay and that would be that. The risk is extremely low, but it still exists, but I’m not going to stop feeding hay as a result.

[DanaNM]

Agree with Bam about Revolution. There is a product called Vectra 3D that can be safely dosed by a vet (our vet back in SB figured out a regime because we were having a lot of deaths from Myxo) that does repel insects before they bite (as opposed to Revolution, which kills things already feeding on the bun). But if your buns are housed inside and you have good window screens it probably isn’t necessary.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Yeah, I saw the Revolution recommendation on there and wondered about that. I mean, fleas could potentially be a vector. But fleas feeding on an infected wild rabbit would have to somehow make it onto your bunny. If they are kept indoors, then this is extremely unlikely… if not impossible.

[prince dorian the bun]

We don’t really have bugs like in many areas… at least not mosquitoes and no fleas that I have seen. We do have sugar ants and a few random soldier beetles. Oh and wasps, which I try to keep them out anyway. Anyway that was an overly verbose way of saying I am not going to bother with Revolution. I do most of the others, though the not being able to forage for greens when this is the prime wild greens season is a little sad, also increasing my bunny food bill, but I can deal with it until they are fully vaxxed.

I haven’t heard of any new cases locally, and hoping this was an isolated case. I don’t have full details but there were multiple rabbits in the house and they may have been show rabbits (that’s hearsay mind you, but would increase the risk of catching it). My local wild buns have all been healthy looking (& lots of new babies) which is making me feel better than if I was seeing dead wild bunnies. I am however really glad that I can finally get the vaccine even if we have to wait another couple weeks for the first dose.

[LBJ10]

Revolution obviously won’t hurt anything. But yeah, I don’t think it’s necessary in this scenario. Not being able to forage is going to be the worse part of this, I’m sure.

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