- The worst outbreak of myxomatosis in years is threatening
Britain's rabbit population, and owners of domestic animals are being warned
to get their pets vaccinated without delay.
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- Reports are coming in of outbreaks of the disease across
the country, with epidemics confirmed in Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Newcastle,
Cambridge, Durham and Surrey. Experts are blaming mild conditions in the
autumn.
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- More than 90 percent of rabbits -- wild and domestic
-- that contract myxomatosis die. The disease is carried by insects such
as mosquitoes, ticks, mites, lice and fleas. An outbreak in the early 1950s
almost wiped out the UK's rabbit population.
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- Claire King, executive officer at the Rabbit Welfare
Association, the UK's largest rabbit owners' organization, said: "It
is now everywhere in the country. Rabbit owners should take their rabbits
down to the vet and vaccinate them. They should do it as soon as possible.
This is the worst outbreak for years."
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- The disease begins with lumps around the rabbit's head
and genitals. Acute eye infection follows, causing discharge and, usually,
blindness. The rabbit then loses its balance, stops eating, and develops
a fever. Infections then occur, causing pneumonia and inflammation of the
lumps. In typical cases, death takes about 13 days.
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- Rabbits were introduced into Britain by invading Roman
legions 2000 years ago. The population, estimated at 37.5 million, is at
its highest for half a century.
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- Myxomatosis was 1st observed in laboratory rabbits in
Uruguay in 1896. It was tolerated by South American rabbits but proved
lethal to their European cousins. The disease was deliberately introduced
into Australia to devastating effect in 1950. In the autumn of 1953, it
arrived in Britain. Ministry of Agriculture officials tried to contain
it but failed.
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- 2 years later, 99 percent of Britain's wild rabbits were
dead. It was alleged that some farmers had spread the disease deliberately,
as rabbits had been blamed for the destruction of vast swathes of crops.
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- The Pests Act of 1954 criminalized intentional transmission,
but few prosecutions followed. The rabbit population has now grown to half
of what it was before the disease spread.
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- Mairwen Guard, of Cottontails Rabbit Rescue in Westbury,
Wiltshire, believes the high cost of vaccination -- between 10 to 20 GBP
[17 to 34 USD] per rabbit -- is helping to spread the disease. She said:
"Responsible pet owners already vaccinate their rabbits twice a year.
Your average person will buy rabbits for their kids and then just leave
them at the bottom of the garden when the family gets bored. It's no wonder
that the disease spreads."
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- Dorothy and Ray Massey of the British Belgian Hare Club
have over 70 animals in their barn in Wearmouth, Derbyshire. Mrs. Massey
is prepared for the worst. "This outbreak could wipe the whole lot
out," she said.
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- "All our stock, everything. We can't vaccinate,
though. It's so costly to have the whole lot vaccinated, as well as making
the does infertile."
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- The disease is not monitored by the Government. A spokesman
for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said yesterday
[26 Nov 2005]: "This is not a notifiable disease. People whose pets
catch it or who see it are not required by law to report it. It doesn't
affect any other mammal."
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article329577.ece
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