Rabbit owners are being warned of a highly contagious, mutated virus which kills pets within days and has no UK vaccine.
More than 400 rabbits have died in the last six months from a strain of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD2) that is new to Britain, reports suggest.
But this death toll is believed to be “the tip of the iceberg”, with up to 80 per cent of unexplained deaths unrecorded. In all, up to 2,000 rabbits may have been affected.
The virus, which has almost no symptoms, was first recorded in the UK in 2014 and spreads via animals, people and bedding such as hay.
Richard Saunders, a Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund veterinary expert, said about 1.3 million unprotected rabbits were at risk in the UK, with the only vaccines that work having to be imported from France and Spain.
“The vast majority of owners don’t know about it,” he said.
“Unfortunately, a lot of vets are still saying they have never seen it or that they don’t see it as necessary to vaccinate as they often underestimate the worth of the rabbit.”
He added that the disease was spreading in the warmer weather.
“The biggest worry about this virus is that it is endemic – it spreads slower than it kills so it creeps around the country in a more sinister pattern than the first strain,” he said.
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) arrived Britain in 1992 and vaccines are readily available. The mutated strain – RHD2 – was first recorded in France in 2010. The virus, which affects both domestic and wild rabbits, has been recorded in counties across Britain and is thought to be particularly prominent in Devon and Cornwall.
Hazel Elliott, who is on the British Rabbit Council’s governing body, said she was aware of three British breeders who had lost more than 100 rabbits in the p ast six months.
She said European vaccine companies were now applying for licences in the UK. But, when asked how long it would take to get them, she replied: “How long is a piece of string?”
Rabbit owners can get their animals vaccinated at some vets which have access to the vaccines. Domestic pet owners, who only need one dose, are being charged between £25 and £30 per animal. Ms Elliott said she was aware of one vet charging more than £40 – nearly triple the manufacturer’s price.
Peter Smith and his daughter Claudia, 15, from Morpeth, Northumberland, lost 10 of their rabbits within three days last September.
Mr Smith, 47, a chartered accountant, said: “There were no outward signs whatsoever,” he said. “I was in the kitchen, which isn’t too far from where our rabbits are kept, and I heard an almighty squeal. We rushed out and one of the rabbits was dead.”
Mr Smith, who keeps up to 50 rabbits at a time and takes them to shows, said there was no pattern to the deaths, with both babies and adults affected.
The Chief Veterinary Officer was contacted for comment but The Telegraph has not yet received a reply.