Wild rabbits live in complex social warrens and face devastating mortality from myxomatosis, a disease that causes prolonged suffering in infected individuals.
Myxomatosis causes one of the most prolonged and distressing deaths of any common wildlife disease. Infected rabbits survive for up to two weeks in progressive deterioration with extreme facial swelling inflammation and eventual blindness. Despite the scale of suffering in wild rabbit populations during myxomatosis outbreaks, intervention is impractical. Preventing the disease requires addressing transmission vectors rather than treating individuals.