RHD Deceased in Cibola County NM

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Notes

this is the index case FADDL confirmation for rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 outbreak that began in New Mexico in 2020 and came to be known as the Southwestern RHDV2 Outbreak (it subsequently spread south into Mexico and throughout the Western US.) “On March 24, 2020, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NVSL-FADDL) notified the NM AVIC of positive PCR results for Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) virus Type 2. This detection was from liver tissue submitted from two domestic rabbits on March 23, 2020. Positive antigen ELISA results for RHDV and consistent histopathology findings followed on March 25. The affected premises is located in Cibola County, NM. This represents the first detection of RHDV2 in NM. Concurrent to the events in privately owned rabbits in NM, mortality also was reported in wild rabbits and hares in the region. Since March 1, there were reports of wild rabbit deaths in southern New Mexico. A private practitioner in Eddy County submitted samples from a wild black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) to FADDL and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish submitted five desert cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus audubonii) to FADDL. These animals were all positive for RHDV2 and are the first detections of RHDV2 in wild North American hares (black- tailed jackrabbit) and rabbits (desert cottontail rabbits). In the RHDV2 outbreak in Washington State in late 2019 and 2020, RHDV2 was detected in free-ranging feral domestic rabbits but not native wild rabbits.”