The advice follows the death from RCD of three pet rabbits in one hutch on property in a Dunedin residential suburb. The property is about a kilometre from the nearest farmland. Possible sources of infection are contaminated feed or hay, humans carrying the virus on clothing or shoes, or insect vectors.
Vaccinations are available through registered veterinarians.
Rabbits are immunised at about two and a half to three months of age. If they are under two and a half months of age, they should be revaccinated every three weeks until they reach three months. In all other cases a single dose is given. The timing of vaccination is critical because maternal antibodies, which are passed on by mothers to their young, confer temporary immunity, but can inactivate the vaccine. At two and a half to three months, most of the maternal antibodies in young rabbits have disappeared.