The Cabildo of Tenerife, through the Natural Environment area, in collaboration with the University Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, began an investigation through the Canary Islands Wildlife Health Surveillance Network due to the sudden death of several rabbits in the Teide National Park at the beginning of July. The research reveals with a very high probability – by associating pathology and identification of the virus in the rabbits analyzed – that the death of the rabbits is due to new variant of the virus rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV-2).
The counselor of Natural Environment, Blanca Perez, points out that “we want to send a message of tranquility in the face of the videos and images published on social networks that generated alarm among the hunting sector. The deaths occurred due to rabbit hemorrhagic disease, which is common, and not due to other causes.”
When an animal gets sick, or accumulates several diseases (viral, bacterial, parasitic, etc.), the immune systems sometimes do not respond enough to achieve survival. In most cases, viral diseases, such as RDHV-2, they put the rabbits’ resistance capacity to the limit. Regarding toxicological analyses, these are carried out through the VIGIA program of the Government of the Canary Islandswhich sends them to the laboratory SERTOX. The final results are currently pending, but it is highly unlikely that a toxin could be the cause of the deaths.
In that sense, it should be noted that animal corpses and skins can keep viruses potentially active for quite a long time and can spread the disease to other living animals. For this reason it is very important remove the corpses of dead rabbits from the countryside and not translocate them clandestinely.
Finally, to guarantee the sustainability of future wild rabbit populations on the island, the collaboration of all citizens with the administration is essential, notifying the places where animals are found so that their correct collection and removal can be carried out. In addition, hunting societies can also contribute to the management of populations by providing data. Each capture should be seen as scientific data that helps maintain and improve the different wildlife populations in Tenerife.
At the beginning of July, a dozen wild rabbits were found dead in different areas of the Teide National Park. Several copies were sent to the University Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) for subsequent veterinary analysis and thus be able to determine the possible causes of the deaths. In this sense, two of the rabbits presented pulmonary hemorrhages and tested positive for rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (Claciviridae or RHDV-2), a genotypic variant of the classic disease. This disease has a high mortality rate and can be transmitted in various ways. The hemorrhagic disease The rabbit virus is a highly contagious virus with high mortality for this lagoform species because immunity against the classic form of this hemorrhagic disease (RHDV-1) does not protect against this new variant (RHDV-2).