Nineteen cases of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHDV) were found in domestic rabbits in Los Angeles County, in April 2024, in addition to the cases that were reported earlier in the year.

RHDV is a serious and extremely contagious viral disease of rabbits, jackrabbits, hares or pikas. In some groups of unvaccinated animals, most or all may die. RHDVa and RHDV2 are viral subtypes that have appeared recently.

Symptoms of infection may include:

• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy
• High fever
• Seizures
• Bleeding from nose, mouth, or rectum
• Difficulty breathing
• Sudden death, without showing any symptoms at all.

Please report sightings of sick or dead wild rabbits, jackrabbits, hares or pikas to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Investigations Lab at 916-358-2790 or file an online mortality report through CDFW’s website: Wildlife Mortality Reporting (ca.gov)

Please report dead domestic rabbits to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) at 909-947-4462.

Quickly sharing the information will help us protect other rabbits in the county.

Consult your private veterinarian, if your rabbit is sick.

RHDV is spread by touching the mouth, nose, and eyes. It is present in urine, feces, and respiratory secretions from infected rabbits, thus contaminated bedding can be a source of infection. Contaminated foods might also be a source of infection. Insects, birds, and scavengers may transmit the virus between wild and domestic rabbits, wild cottontails, jackrabbits, and brush rabbits.

The virus can survive for long periods outside the host. It may survive up to three months on cloth at room temperature and in infected tissue (carcasses) under field conditions.

Rabbit owners are urged to protect their animals by preventing contact with wild animals, and if possible, keep domestic rabbits indoors.  Outdoor rabbits should be off the ground when possible.  Owners should avoid feeding hay grown or stored outdoors in areas where wild rabbits are affected. Apparently healthy rabbits can spread the disease, so rabbit owners should avoid direct or indirect contact between their animals and other rabbits.

For additional tips to protect domestic rabbits, please visit the US Department of Agriculture’s page on Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease.

For more information, please visit the CDFW webpage regarding the disease.

RHDV and its subvariants have been detected in wild rabbits in most western states. CDFA considers the disease endemic to these areas, triggering limited regulatory action when domestic rabbits become infected, and focusing on assisting owners to protect their rabbits. Test-positive domestic rabbits are quarantined, and owners are provided information on how best to reduce spread of the virus. Restrictions on rabbits moving into California are still in effect.