Myxomatosis and rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease (RVHD) are devastating viral diseases that kill both pet and wild rabbits. Understanding vaccination, transmission, and the welfare implications of these diseases is essential for rabbit owners and wildlife advocates.
Myxomatosis causes prolonged, distressing suffering in affected rabbits. The progressive loss of vision, skin lesion formation, and systemic deterioration over 10-14 days represents a significant welfare burden that is entirely preventable in pet rabbits through vaccination. Wild rabbits dying of myxomatosis in gardens and fields are commonly witnessed by members of the public — the blindness, disorientation, and deterioration of affected animals is often upsetting to observe and represents genuine suffering at scale across wild populations. RVHD2 causes a different welfare profile: rapid death that, while acute, is often swift enough to limit prolonged suffering — though internal haemorrhage is not a comfortable dying process. The history of deliberate myxomatosis introduction as a rabbit population control strategy raises profound retrospective ethical questions about the acceptability of deliberately causing mass animal suffering for agricultural convenience. For pet rabbit owners, the vaccine question is clear: vaccination is safe, effective, and prevents preventable suffering — it is a basic welfare responsibility.