For Anyone Interested in the Wildlife of the U.K.
What is VHD Virus?
Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (sometimes referred to as HVD or RCD) is a disease which affects adult rabbits and is usually fatal. It was first noticed in China in 1984, and was first recorded in the UK in 1992. It has been used as a lethal method of controling wild rabbit populations in Australia.
Rabbits infected with the disease may have laboured breathing, convulsions, lack of appetite, high temperature and bleeding from the nose. Sometimes there are no external indicators of the disease. The rabbits just suddenly die.
The VHD virus can be carried on the wind and can survive in the environment for many months.
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