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 happening everywhere today. That is, until you take a closer look at the patients, such as Maise and Gus.
Maise the rabbit isn’t here to get a COVID shot; she and dozens of other rabbits have come to receive the RHDV2 (Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus) vaccine.
Although humans are not affected by the disease, the highly contagious virus is bad news for rabbits. First identified in China in the 1980s, the initial RHDV outbreak was more than eradicated 140 million rabbits. This newer strain, RHDV2, surfaced in France in 2010. In 2019, Washington got its first case.
Dr. Alicia McLaughlin was the first veterinarian in the country to import the vaccine. Since RHDV2 is traditionally a European disease, no US company has produced a vaccine; she needed special permission to bring it to the US
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“We had people who were desperate, you know, who called our clinic over and over, ‘Hey, we just really want this vaccine. Please let us get this vaccine,’ she told correspondent Conor Knighton.
The vaccine, said Dr. McLaughlin, “is more than 90% effective, which, again as we know from the COVID vaccine, is actually very good. We are very happy with that. Considering that the alternative is nearly 100% deadly, her really good.”
Today, cases of RHDV2 have been identified in a number of statesBut since so few vets got the vaccine, find a dose can still be an ordeal.
Knighton asked, “How far do people come from to make the recording?”
“A few hours,” replied Dr. McLaughlin. “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, has been the driving force behind the mass vaccination clinics. She showed Knighton “Ruth Bunner Ginsburg.”
“Rabbits don’t have many champions. Somehow I’ve bonded soul-to-soul with them, and I’m doing everything I can to make their lives fulfilling, better and happy,” said Brennan.
Working with a local vet, Brennan’s group has given nearly a thousand injections: “What we’re trying to do is a bit like they do with COVID: vaccinate everyone, you stop the spread, you stop the disease. People can go back to normal. , bunnies can go back to normal. “
Bunnies have an unofficial order to stay at home. The virus can linger on surfaces, including grass, so they can’t get out of the yard. They should definitely not mix with other rabbits outside of their “pod”.
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Right now, the worst RHDV2 outbreak is in the West and Southwest, where a new variant has switched from domestic rabbits to wild rabbits.
In California, the Oakland Zoo, in partnership with federal and state conservation agencies, has tested and vaccinated endangered ripstop rabbits in case the virus makes its way into this small population of cottontails.
Better safe than sorry, which is why Dr. McLaughlin continues to regularly monitor her patients, even though there hasn’t been a confirmed case in Washington for over a year.
Knighton asked, “If you give those injections and you send a fully vaccinated rabbit out, how does it feel?”
“Ah, I love to do it. It makes me so happy!” she replied. “It’s like kicking the virus in the face! Like, ‘Take that! You can’t take this rabbit away!'”
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Story edited by Remington Korper.