From the vials to the volunteers to the steady stream of vehicles, the clinic in Gig Harbor, Washington, looks like one of the massive vaccination events taking place everywhere these days. That is, until you take a closer look at the patients, like Maise and Gus.
Maise the rabbit is not here to get a COVID shot; she and dozens of other rabbits came to fetch the vaccine for RHDV2 (Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus).
Although humans are not affected by the disease, the highly contagious virus is bad news for rabbits. The initial RHDV outbreak, first identified in China in the 1980s, more than wiped out 140 million bunnies. This newer strain, RHDV2, appeared in France in 2010. In 2019, Washington received its first case.
Dr. Alicia McLaughlin was the first veterinarian in the country to introduce the vaccine. Since RHDV2 has historically been a European disease, no American company has produced a vaccine; she had to get special permission to bring it to the US
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“We had people who were desperate, you know, and we called our clinic over and over again, ‘Hey, we just want this vaccine. Please let’s get this vaccine,'” she told correspondent Conor Knighton.
The vaccine, dr. McLaughlin said, “is more than 90% effective, which, as we know from the COVID vaccine, is actually very good. We’re very happy with it. Since the alternative is almost 100% lethal, it’s really well. “
Today, cases of RHDV2 have been identified in a number of states. But since so few veterinarians have received the vaccine, finding a dose can still be a trial.
Knighton asked, “How far do people come from to get the chance?”
“A few hours,” Dr. McLaughlin replied. “I have not seen an upper limit for how far people are willing to travel to get the vaccine.”
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Sue Brennan, owner of Gig Harbor’s Rabbit Haven Rescue, was the driving force behind the massive vaccination clinics. She showed Knighton ‘Ruth Bunner Ginsburg’.
“Rabbits do not have many champions. Somehow I have connected soul-to-soul with them, and I do everything possible to make their lives fulfilling, better, happy,” Brennan said.
Through a partnership with a local veterinarian, Brennan’s group fired nearly a thousand shots: “What we are trying to do is like doing it with COVID: Vaccinate everyone, stop the spread, stop the disease. People can return to normal “Rabbits can go back to normal.”
Bunnies were under an unofficial home order. The virus can linger on surfaces, including grass, so that it cannot go out into the garden. They should definitely not mix with other rabbits outside their “pod”.
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Currently, the worst RHDV2 outbreak is in the West and Southwest, where a new variant has jumped from domestic rabbits to wild rabbits.
In California, the Oakland Zoo, in partnership with federal and state wildlife agencies, tested and vaccinated endangered riparian rabbits just in case the virus came to this small population of cotton tails.
It’s better if it’s a pity. Therefore, although there has not been a confirmed case in Washington for more than a year, dr. McLaughlin is still vaccinating her patients.
Knighton asked, “How does it feel when you administer the shots and send a fully vaccinated rabbit?”
“Oh, I love it. It makes me so happy!” she replied. “It’s just like kicking the virus in the face! Like, ‘Take it! You can’t take this bunny away!’
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Story edited by Remington Korper.