Strange virus attacks rabbit like Covid-19 in humans

It is the virus that causes infectious hemorrhagic disease in type 2 rabbits (RHD-2) . Currently the US Department of Agriculture says the virus affects only rabbits.

The disease is affecting large numbers of hares in the Americas - (Image: GETTY IMAGES)

According to CNN , an outbreak in New Mexico (USA) in March 2020, spread to the states of Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, California and then to Mexico and many Central American countries.

This is the first time this virus has spread in the wild in the Americas. Preliminary estimates of 10,000 wild rabbits are dead and threatening to domestic rabbit farms.

Veterinarian Ralph Zimmerman in New Mexico (USA) said scientists have not yet found the cause of the outbreak. Zimmerman speculated that the disease would hit the Americas due to poor control over imported rabbits.

Previously, an infectious hemorrhagic disease outbreak in France in 2010, then spread to many European countries and then to Australia.

"Maybe some importer rabbits got sick. Farmers throw their bodies out into the environment and spread the virus to wild rabbits , " Zimmerman said.

Rabbits with RHD-2 should also be isolated like those with Covid-19 - (Image: GETTY IMAGES).

According to the National Wildlife Center (USA), this virus can "persist" even in drought or cold environments.

Many vaccines have been tested in many areas, but experts say the move is quite late as the epidemic may have spread in hares and is "attacking" domestic rabbits.

According to Anne Martin, executive director of the American Rabbit Association, there is much in common between RHD-2 and Covid-19. Both spread rapidly and had a high risk of death on the single affected species (rabbit or human).

To prevent RHD-2, infected rabbits must also be isolated like those infected with Covid-19. 

According to Anne Martin, rabbits are an important link in the ecosystem, so the disease affecting rabbits will have a strong impact on the environment.

If the number of rabbits declines, many predators will also suddenly lose large amounts of food, facing the risk of starvation. In the opposite direction, wild rabbit and grass trees now have the opportunity to thrive, affecting other plants, causing ecological imbalance.