PA Addressing Emergence Of Highly Contagious Rabbit Disease

PENNSYLVANIA — State game and wildlife officials in Pennsylvania are addressing the emergence of a highly contagious disease impacting rabbit populations elsewhere in the nation.

Though the illness, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, is not currently in Pennsylvania, the Game Commission is concerned enough by its spread to issue an executive order aimed at stopping it from entering the state.

The recently handed down order indefinitely prohibits any wild lagomorph — a classification including rabbits, hares, and pikas — from being brought into Pennsylvania from any state or territory where the disease has been found in the past year. The ban also applies to meat, pelts, and other body parts.

The disease cannot infect humans or other animals, but it is highly contagious among domestic rabbit populations and has been responsible for "mass die-offs," officials said.

First found in France in 2010, the disease is described as extremely contagious. It causes internal bleeding, and a telltale sign among the infect is a blood-stained nose.

Making control of the virus even more challenging is its persistence: the virus can remain infectious on the landscape for months.

Disease control or eradication is inherently challenging as the virus is extremely resilient and can remain infectious on the landscape for months. Infected rabbits spread the virus through urine, feces, or respiratory secretions.

The disease was found in Pennsylvania in 2018 but was contained, authorities said.

Other outbreaks have occurred in Iowa, and more recently, in several counties in coastal California.

Experts say it's a threat to the ecosystem's balance because of how it could impact certain predator species. With fewer wild rabbits, animals like coyotes and raccoons could easily be driven in greater numbers into suburban and urban areas in search of food.

Residents are urged to keep an eye out and report suspicious sightings. If you find two or more dead rabbits or hares in a single location with an unknown cause of death, do not touch the animals, and call the Pennsylvania Game Commission office.

Pennsylvania is home to multiple lagomorph species that are crucial cogs in the health of the environment, including cottontail and snowshoe hares.