Unfortunately, we have had reports from owners about vaccinated rabbits dying from what PCR testing then confirms as RVHD2. As yet, it still isn’t possible for UK PCR tests to differentiate between the classic strain of RVHD2 and the new High Virulence strain, RVHD2(HV). With this in mind, please ensure your rabbits are vaccinated with both the standard ‘triple’ vaccine and also the new vaccine that covers RVHD2(HV), but not myxomatosis.
If your rabbit dies suddenly with few or no visible symptoms, then we would urge you to have a post-mortem carried out with samples taken and sent for PCR testing. If this comes back positive for RVHD2 and your rabbit has been vaccinated within the previous 12 months, then you and/or your vet should report this to the VMD (Veterinary Medicines Directorate) as a vaccine failure. This can be done here.
Supplies of the new vaccine should now be available in single-dose vials. If your vet doesn’t advise you to have this done, then you need to ask for it. All the vet practices on our Rabbit Friendly Vets list should have it in stock, and we hope they will be advising clients to have it done.
If your vet doesn’t know about the new strain or the vaccine, then please ask them to visit the vets-only section of our website, where there is a lot of advice and information for them. They can also apply to join our RWAF Veterinary Professionals Group on Facebook. If you feel they are rabbit-savvy, but they aren’t currently on our list, then please urge them to join up and apply for inclusion on the list. We want to make it easy for all rabbit guardians to find a rabbit-savvy vet within easy reach.
