A wildlife veterinarian says an extremely contagious disease that affects rabbits is spreading.
It's the first time "Rabbit hemorrhagic disease" has been confirmed in British Columbia. It's already killed at least 300 rabbits around Nanaimo ... has now been confirmed in a colony on Delta's Annacis Island ... and may be responsible for rabbit deaths in the Comox area. Carcasses are now being tested.
Wildlife veterinarian Helen Schwantje of the BC Ministry of Forests, says it's an extremely contagious virus:
"It's a really serious disease. It's has sort of taken us by storm over the last few weeks. We certainly never expected anything like this. It's only been recognized a couple of times before in Canada, never before in British Columbia. So it's a huge surprise and very sobering."
The disease can kill a rabbit within 48 hours, often without symptoms -- but sometimes victims bleed from the nose, mouth or rectum. The disease only affects rabbits of European origin. And there is a theory about where it came from:
"Folks with good intentions that release rabbits into the wild are doing them a disservice. This could have been the way that the virus was transmitted originally, and that is a real problem. So feral rabbit colonies that receive new rabbits could be affected by this virus as well."
Schwantje says rabbits that survive the virus can carry it for weeks or even months -- and potentially keep transmitting it.
She encourages anyone with domestic rabbits to get educated about the disease, and to practise good hygiene.