Since 1995 Australian pet rabbits have been under threat from the deadly rabbit haemorrhagic disease which has become endemic in the wild rabbit population. Around that time the Cylap vaccine was made available to Australian vets and since then many rabbit owners have chosen to vaccinate their pets.  

On 6th March a new even more deadly calicivirus strain called K5 (Korean) is due for release at over 600 sites accross Australia including the Benalla district.  According to information recently provided by our local government vets, recent trials of this strain in wild rabbits revealed 100% protection in vaccinated rabbits and similarly 100% deaths in those poor unvaccinated bunnies. The virus can however alter its potency once released, so we can only hope the current Cylap vaccine protects our domestic bunnies.  Work is underway on an updated vaccine which can not come soon enough.

The current recommendation is to vaccinate adult rabbits every 6 months from now on, and young rabbits can start at 4 weeks of age.  However unfortunately Cylap vaccine supplies are all but exhausted as people rush to protect their pets.  We will be trying to source vaccine as fast as we can to keep our local domestic rabbits immune to this deadly killer disease.

For more information on vaccine recommendations and on clinical signs of rabbit haemorrhagic disease, visit our website.