Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2) causes mass mortality events in wild rabbit populations across Europe and increasingly North America, with affected rabbits dying from internal hemorrhage in ways that involve significant suffering.
Rabbits dying from RHDV2 experience respiratory distress, hemorrhage, and neurological symptoms in their final hours. The acute nature of the disease means welfare interventions are difficult, but preventing vaccination gaps in domestic rabbit populations and supporting research into wild population management reduces both domestic rabbit suffering and the ecological cascade effects of wild rabbit mass mortality. The welfare cost of RHDV2 outbreaks extends through food webs as dependent predator populations also suffer.