ODFW release – A black-tailed jackrabbit, photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Both wild and domestic rabbits are at risk from RHDV2. SALEM, Ore. – More detections of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) in a wild rabbit have been confirmed by the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory including in a black-tailed jackrabbit recovered from Powell Butte in Crook County on Dec. 13, 2021. Winter is the most popular time of the year to hunt rabbits and hunters are asked to keep an eye out for the disease and take steps to avoid spreading it. Domestic rabbit owners should also take precautions. (More info on what to do below.) RHDV2 is a virus that causes sudden death in rabbits. The virus only infects rabbits and poses no human health risk. But it poses a high risk for domestic, feral and wild rabbits. Oregon Department of Agriculture and ODFW are working together to monitor the disease and to try and limit its spread since it was first detected in Oregon in feral domestic rabbits near Portland in mid-March 2021.
