Rabbit hemorrhagic disease

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) is a rapidly lethal infectious viral disease of the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) characterized by high mortality rates, acute hepatic necrosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Although this disease is considered enzootic in Europe and parts of Asia, it is rarely seen in the Western Hemisphere since its eradication from Mexico in 1992. In recent years, three cases of RHD have been identified in the United States. Due to the quick action of veterinarians these cases were confined and controlled before the disease could spread.