Myxomatosis is a devastating viral disease of rabbits with near 100% mortality in unvaccinated animals, and vaccination is a critical welfare intervention for both pet and wild rabbit populations.
Myxomatosis causes one of the most distressing disease presentations in any domestic animal — progressive disfigurement, blindness, and death over days to weeks. Despite highly effective vaccination being available, many pet rabbits remain unvaccinated due to owner unawareness or cost. The welfare argument for vaccination is straightforward and powerful: a single annual injection prevents near-certain slow death. Wild rabbit welfare is also affected by myxomatosis at enormous scale; the disease continues to cause mass die-offs with significant individual suffering. Welfare campaigns focusing on rabbit vaccination face the challenge that rabbits are sometimes perceived as low-maintenance pets requiring minimal veterinary care, an attitude this disease emphatically refutes.