UPDATE ON RABBIT ENTERIC DISEASES : DESPITE IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC CAPACITY , WHERE DOES DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION STAND ?

Eight years have elapsed since the last World Rabbit Congress on rabbit farming but, since then, there has not been a radical change of knowledge on rabbit enteropathies and still little is known on the etiology of Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy (ERE). This disease continuous to pose a severe health threat for rabbit meat production farms and it undermines their profitability. Despite improvements in the methodology to experimentally reproduce the disease, and the exclusion of several hypotheses, none of the remaining candidates for ERE etiology have yet been proven. The evolution of ERE under field conditions can be conditioned by the onset of secondary infections, by prophylactic or therapeutic interventions, as well as by management systems. Since there is no laboratory method for ERE diagnosis, as no specific etiological agent is targetable, the diagnosis is complicated further by the absence of specific clinical and anatomopathological findings. ERE outbreaks can have features that are similar to other enteric syndromes, with more or less defined signs that may be easily confused with more traditional conditioned and multifactorial enteric pathologies. Nowadays there is greater knowledge on the causes of enterotoxaemia in rabbits and on the role of C. perfringens, C. difficile and C. spiroforme, whereas no progress has been made on rabbit diseases due to Enterobacteria, especially on rabbit pathogenesis and prevention of E. coli enterities. Technological innovations which include a common use of biomolecular methods (in particular PCR and Real-Time PCR) enable better diagnostic results, thanks to enhanced analytical sensitivity and faster results. A lack of knowledge on the ERE etiological agent and on the pathogenesis of some rabbit enteric diseases has stalled progress to prevent and control the entire group of rabbit enterities. Even the enthusiasm for vaccines against colibacillosis seems to have come to a standstill. Differently from what happened in other animal species, broiler chickens for instance, in rabbit farms the prevention and disease control continue to rely on antimicrobials. Meanwhile the international scenario is changing and, at least in Europe, the widespread resistance to antimicrobials in bacteria is well documented and it is also influencing the policy making process. Reports published in recent years by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have agreed on the need to use antimicrobials prudently and to reduce their veterinary prescription. The requirement to moderate the use of medications works in hand with a reduction of animal diseases. Currently in Europe, policy-makers are calling on industrial farmers to improve animal welfare which helps to reduce pathologies and consequently the consumption of antimicrobials. Generally there is greater awareness that drugs and medication must be safe and must not pose a risk to the health of European citizens. This is the top priority which ranks above all other productive or commercial interests. Hence, European rabbit industrial farms will have to account for these measures, but this trend will no doubt stretch even beyond European borders. Antimicrobial resistance recognises no border and it is not solely a European problem. Disease prevention can be achieved by ensuring better conditions for farmed animals and more animal-friendly farming practices. Although it is unlikely for rabbit farms to be completely revolutionised in the upcoming years, they will nonetheless have to implement different farming systems, some of which are well known, and on promoting healthier and more hygienic farms and greater biosecurity. Animal density in farms will have to be re-examined since it affects the spreading of pathogenic agents and animal stress. Finally, drug usage will have to be limited, leaving room to alternative products like probiotics, prebiotics, essential oils or acidifiers. The aforementioned proposed actions have to to be