Washington's state vet says bunny-killing virus is 'here to stay'

The town of Langley on Whidbey Island has a unique tourist attraction — wild bunnies. These don’t look like your regular, run of the mill wild rabbits. Instead, they’re the cute, soft, "just want to squeeze them" bunnies you’d see in a pet store. The feral domestic bunny population started in Langley decades ago — a couple of bunnies escaped during a barnyard scramble — where animals are let loose in a barn and kids rush to catch them.

But now, those bunnies are in trouble.

An outbreak of rabbit hemorrhagic disease has led to mass die-offs of the small mammals on the island.

It’s gotten so bad that in July, Island Disposal, the waste management service that collects trash on Camano and Whidbey Island, had to set up containers for a new type of waste — rabbit carcasses. The disease was first seen in the San Juan Islands in 2019 and has since worked its way further into the state.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture confirmed the first case in a wild rabbit in Langley last month.

State Veterinarian Amber Itle said the culprit behind the mass die-off is Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, also known as RHD virus. There are several strains, but the strain that's led to the rabbit deaths on Whidbey Island is RHDV2.

The department first started monitoring the strain back in 2018, when the virus popped in Canada. By the following year, outbreaks were reported in the San Juan Islands.

"This virus can be carried pretty easily. It can be carried on people's clothing, on their footwear, on their hands," Itle said. "So if you're handling a rabbit, and you have somebody else who has a rabbit and they go home, they could potentially spread it on their person."

Another way the virus can be spread is by other animals. The virus can also endure digestion by carnivores, according to Itle.

"I think experimentally, they've shown that it can persist in the environment for like 105 or more days," Itle said. "And so, it's a really robust virus that's hard to get rid of."

Itle suggested that visitors on Whidbey Island who come across several rabbit carcasses in one spot notify the Department of Wildlife and Agriculture.

For people who have pet rabbits at home, wiping off shoes and clothing is one way to prevent bringing the virus home to pets. A RDHV2 vaccine is also available through your veterinarian.

"Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease is here to stay. So, it's now become an endemic disease," Itle said. "The best thing that rabbit owners can do is to work with their veterinarian to get a vaccine for their rabbits."

Listen to the full segment above.