Viral diseases of the rabbit

Abstract

Viral disease in the rabbit is encountered infrequently by the clinical practitioner; however, several viral diseases were reported to occur in this species. Viral diseases that are described in the rabbit primarily may affect the integument, gastrointestinal tract or, central nervous system or maybe multi-systemic in nature. Rabbit viral diseases range from oral papillomatosis, with benign clinical signs, to rabbit hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis, which may result in significant clinical disease and mortality. The wild rabbit may serve as a reservoir for disease transmission for many of these viral agents. In general, treatment of viral disease in the rabbit is supportive in nature.

Fig. 1

Rabbit (Shope) fibroma virus. Photograph of a Rex rabbit that presented with classic multi-focal subcutaneous masses located around the eyes, digits, and in the genital region subsequent to rabbit fibroma viral infection. (Courtesy of Craig Franklin, DVM, PhD, DACLAM, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri).

Fig. 2

Cottontail rabbit (Shope) papillomavirus, papillomatosis. Photograph of a domestic rabbit that presented with an approximately 1.5-cm keratinized horny protuberance located along the dorsal surface of the ear pinna secondary to cottontail rabbit papillomavirus. (Courtesy of Craig Franklin).