Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) and myxomatosis cause mass mortality in wild rabbit populations. Vaccination of domestic rabbits prevents zoonotic spillover while managed populations benefit from direct intervention.
Wild rabbit disease causes suffering at the individual level that is difficult to overstate. Myxomatosis causes progressive swelling, blindness, and respiratory failure over 1-2 weeks - a prolonged death involving ongoing discomfort. RHDV2 causes a faster but still distressing death through internal hemorrhage. The population-level impact - mass deaths affecting entire rabbit communities - removes millions of individuals from lives that had positive welfare dimensions. The ecological consequences extend to the predators and scavengers that depend on rabbits, causing cascading welfare effects through food webs. Where disease management is possible (in managed wild populations or by protecting adjacent domestic animals), vaccination represents a meaningful welfare intervention.