Screening for serum antibodies against B. piliformis can be used as a means of rabbit colony surveillance. Antibodies are produced in subclinically infected animals and persist for long periods. They can be detected in rabbits with an indirect fluorescent antibody assay. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays can also be used and are simpler to perform. There is no treatment.
Antibiotic therapy yields poor results.
Chortetracycline, penicillin, streptomycin, erythromyacin were only partially inhibitory, whereas chloramphenicol and sulfamethazine completely lacked inhibitory properties. Although antibiotics are ineffective in clinical cases, anecdotal evidence suggests they maybe of value in limiting epizootics. In one outbreak, oxytetracycline was added to the drinking water and the epizootic ended in 36 hours. In another instance, clinical disease was eliminated from a colony of mice after administration of tetracycline in the drinking water. No vaccine is available, so prevention is the key.