February 2023 Update

March 2nd, 2023

RHDV2 continues to be the dominant virus detected and has been particularly active in VIC during February 2023.

Submission numbers remain high in the final month of Summer, particularly from VIC and NSW. It has been a hot but wet season, and with us now approaching Autumn, fly activity should begin to decrease. Again, RHDV2 remains the dominant circulating strain in positive cases and seems to be active in VIC, ACT, WA, SA and TAS. We detected a single positive case of K5 in a wild rabbit in SA.

For a large number of submitted samples, calicivirus was not detected in the liver. Although the large number of negative rabbits in NSW may suggest that calicivirus is not currently active in the area, we would still urge rabbit owners to take biosecurity precautions to help protect their rabbits:

  • Decontaminate hands, shoes and clothing before handling rabbits
  • Keep your pet rabbit indoors
  • Regularly decontaminate equipment and materials including cages, hutches, bowls etc, with either 10% bleach, 10% sodium hydroxide, or a parvocidal disinfectant such as F10SC or Virkon
  • Control insects (especially flies) as much as possible both indoors and outdoors
  • Rabbit-proof your backyard to prevent access by wild rabbits
  • Limit contact between and handling of unfamiliar pet rabbits

Additionally, pet rabbits should be vaccinated with Cylap® or Filavac® (AVA). Please note that it will take a few weeks for rabbits to build up their immunity following vaccination.

If you suspect a rabbit may have died of calicivirus, you can request a free test kit by sending an email to rabbitcalicivirus@csiro.au with your postal address.