Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus-2 is a disease that affects both domestic rabbits and wild rabbits and hares. It is a fatal disease that is also extremely contagious. If that wasn't bad enough, this disease is very hardy in many environments and is easily moved from one place to another via fomites -- clothes, shoes, cages, cage furniture etc. 

Laura Davich Jette is an Eastern cottontail rabbit wildlife rehabilitator in Minnesota. In her day job she is an Emergency Room nurse. This makes her very suited to working on all the biosecurity protocols one would need to be able to rehabilitate wild rabbits and hares. 

In this episode we talk about what RHDV-2 is, where it came from, how it spreads and how we as rehabilitators can protect the rabbits in our care from this fatal disease. 

Here are some additional Resources about RHDV-2 to help you plan your biosecurity:

APHIS-USDA: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/fs-rhdv2.pdf
AVMA: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-health/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease
RHDV-2 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rabbithemorrhagicdiseasenewsnetwork/
Wisconsin. gov: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/RabbitHemorrhagicDisease.aspx
Wildlife Health: https://wildlifehealth.org/rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease-virus/ 

Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.

To learn more about The Raptor Center, visit Homepage | The Raptor Center (umn.edu). For more on Partners for Wildlife, visit Partners for Wildlife Home | The Raptor Center (umn.edu).