Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV)
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) is a highly contagious disease caused by a calicivirus that affects rabbits. This includes wild and domesticated European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), from which our own domesticated rabbits are descended. Until 2020, it had not been known to affect North American native rabbits or hares, such as cottontails, snowshoe hares, and jackrabbits. In the 2020-2021 United States & Mexico & Canada outbreak, RHDV is causing death in wildlife species of rabbits as well.
RHDV was first seen in China in 1984 but was thought to have originated in Europe. There have been confirmed cases in 40 countries, including in Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia, North America (Mexico, United States, Canada), Australia, and New Zealand.
RHDV2, a new virus, emerged in France in 2010, and quickly spread in Europe and the Mediterranean, and has replaced the original strain in many countries. In 2015, RHDV2 was first detected in Australia – it spread coast-to-coast in the rabbit population in 18 months (~3 million square miles, compared to United States’ ~3.8 million square miles) and became the dominant strain replacing RHDV1.
