RHD-2

[JohnC6]

That's Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease.There's been a dramatic drop of rabbit numbers in Suffolk. The Wild Meat Company,based in the county, actually ran out of rabbit in February after hunters found so few of them. RHD will kill 90% of animals it infects..mainly rabbits, wild or pets. There hasn't been a confirmed death yet but suspicions are that this new variant of the disease has moved here from France and the Netherlands. There's no lingering death. One minute the rabbit is alive, the next it's dead.The virus attacks the internal organs..RHD was around in 2020 but this is a new variant...RHD-2.Advice is to cremate bodies rather than bury them..RHD-2 will also infect hares and any animal that sources rabbits /hares for food. That would include, foxes,mainly, but also pine martens, otters and birds of prey.

Dated April 19th. https://metro.co.uk/2025/04/19/fears-british-rabbits-killer-virus-sweeps-europe-22937761/

 

[Jannyfox]

RHD2 has been in the UK since 2014. RHD a long time before that. I'm not sure predators/scavengers are affected by it but they will shed and spread it. It does affect hares and very young rabbits which the older RHD didn't so it's uncertain whether it's mutated or a new virus. The media are good at old news - beats working