Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-08
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1852, he inoculated two wild
rabbits with the serum. turned
them loose, and sat back to see
what would happen.
1.-THE results" said the doctor
later in a masterful understate-
ment, exceeded my hopes"
Plague Starts.
A few days after receiving
their incubation. the two rabbit
victims were sick. Their nos
trils and eyelids became swollen,
giving their heads a queer, mis-
shapen look. Soon. they were
partly paralyzed, creeping about
painfully in search of food. They
became blind and deaf and fl
nally. about six days after the
onset Of the first symptoms, they
were dead.
The same unhappy fate quick
ly overlook all of the other wild
rabbits on DR.. Deliile's 750-acre
estate. AS the doctor expected.
the disease spread with extraor-
binary Swiftness by contact, by
contamination of the ground and
by mosquitoes and fieas. Later
on, the doctor said he had
counted on the walls around his
property to conflne the disease.
It was q bad guess. Within a
matter Of weeks the myxomatosis
virus was sweeping like a prairie
IRE through the surrounding
countryside. killing rabbits by
the hundreds Of thousands.
In the Sologne district, the
disposal Of dead rabbits became
q major sanitary problem. Farm
ers dug shallow bitches for the
daily harvest of victims. The
highways became Uttered with
bodies Of rabbits who Numbered
helplessly into the path of mo-
torists. On a single estate of
three square miles, 10000 dead
rabbits were counted the first
gear.
AS soon as 1t realized what
was happening, the Ministry
Of Agriculture swung into &C
ton. Unsuccessful attempts were
made to quarantine contami-
mated areas. The famous Pasteur
Institute took time off from
research on poliomyelitis to
develop a serum which offers
protection to tame rabbits for
. six-month period.
Disease Becomes Epidemic.
Nothing, however, prevented
the spread Of the disease. In
some cases, it was transported
deliberately into new areas by
farmers who. like DR.. Delille,
looked forward to the day when
there would be no more rabbits.
BY the end of last year, myxo-
n1atosis infected virtually all of
France. Today, it has swept
across Belgium and Holland,
across Germany and into Cen
trail Europe. Despite rigid pre-
cautions, 1t has jumped the
English Channel and turned up
on Q farm in Kent.
AS the rabbits disappeared,
people began to realize for the
first time Just how important
rabbits were. The State itself
was the first to feel the pinch.
Each year in France. some
1,850,000 people buy hunting
licenses for 1900 francs (about
So each. Ninety per cent of
these sportsmen are rabbit hunt
ers. Rabbits may not be the
most exciting of game. But in
the past they were plentiful
enough and easy enough to kill
80 that at least 20 million were
shot each year.
OF all shotgun shells sold in
France, 1t has been estimated
that nearly 80 per cent were
destined to be fired In. the gen.
eral direction of rabbits. Since
the outbreak of myxomatosis,
one Of the leading manufacture
ing Arms has laid of 750 en-
ployes. Hotels and restaurants
who specialize in catering to
hunters are deserted,
The spread of the disease has
virtually wrecked the universal
rural small business of raising
domestic rabbits for market It
was an important industry
Every year IS million rabbits
found their way to French tables.
providing a major source Of in
expensive meat. The skins. rep.
resented a business amounting TO
80 billion francs year. of which
one-third was exported. They
provided the raw material for a
variety of industries, ranging all
the way from felt hats to "er-
mine" robes for the hard-pressed