‘It’s appalling’: 1st case of deadly viral disease spreads to wild rabbits in Alberta – Calgary | Globalnews.ca

A large number of feral pet rabbit deaths have occurred in Calgary, and this time in Nose Hill Park.

Local veterinarians are sounding the alarm because a highly contagious disease has spread to a wild rabbit in the city for the first time.

Maureen Hurley usually encounters around 50 or 60 wild rabbits around the Nose Hill parking lot near Edgemont, but this weekend she didn’t see any jumping around.

“It was really sad. I noticed about four dead bodies lying around on Tuesday,” Hurley said.

A peek under a storage bin reveals a live rabbit, but many more dead — likely the latest victims of a highly contagious virus called Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHDV2).

“I saw someone put something in a plastic bag the other day and pulled it out from under it, but there were a few they couldn’t reach, so there are dead animals down there,” said Dr. Leticia Materi, a veterinarian at the Calgary Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic.

“There is a mass death of animals in the Nose Hill Park area.”

She said the first reported cases this summer were in Manchester Industrial and Seton.

“This virus is highly contagious and it is only a matter of time before large flocks of wild rabbits are affected. It’s spread not only from rabbit to rabbit, but also from scavengers, and people can pick it up with their hands and their clothes,” Materi said.

There have been seven confirmed cases of feral pet rabbits in Calgary since late August.

RHD is contagious among rabbits, hares and pikas – members of the order called lagomorphs – but is not known to be transmitted to humans or other animals.

Now a case in Calgary of a mountain cottontail in Queen’s Park Cemetery shows the virus has made the leap to a wild animal for the first known time in the province.

“It’s the first one we’ve identified here in Alberta,” said Dr. Jennifer Davies, veterinary pathologist and director of the Diagnostic Services Unit at the University of Calgary School of Veterinary Medicine.

“They (wild rabbits and hares) will not have immunity and it could lead to significant population die-offs, and they are an important part of our ecosystem as herbivores and prey for other carnivores and scavengers,” Davies said.

Materi said RHD was spotted in Edmonton and the Lethbridge area and has now made its way across Ontario.

She said the concern now is the spread of the disease outside of urban areas.

“It’s scary. It could potentially have devastating effects on certain species. If it gets into the wild population, there’s a chance it could spread beyond the city limits,” Materi said.

Hurley said the suffering could have been avoided if people hadn’t given up their unwanted pets.

“People keep throwing them away and leaving them behind. They’re small pets,” Hurley said. “It’s really cruel to throw them away because they can’t really take care of themselves and they become vulnerable to predators and disease, starvation and winter temperatures.”

Rabbit owners are cautioned to get their pets vaccinated and stay away from known hot spots.
Dead rabbits in the city can be reported to Alberta Environment and Parks or the city at 311.