An outbreak of hemorrhagic disease in rabbits

Abstract

Rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease, known as viral necrotic hepatitis or hemorrhagic pneumonia, is a contagious disease with peracute or acute outcome and characterized by hyperthermia, prostration, hemorrhagic foamy discharge and mortality in 50-90% of cases. The main lesions are consisting in hemorrhagic diathesis, especially in lungs, liver and spleen. There are no evolution particularities regarding the age, breed, gender or species (domesticated or wild). The aim of this paper was consisting in describing the symptomatology and the pathology of hemorrhagic disease outbreak in rabbits. To the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Iasi were submitted for a physical examination 5 rabbits, 4 female and one male, crossbreed between Lionhead and Californian breed, 4 to 9 months old, kept in a private household, and. During the physical examination, the main symptomatology seen was consisting in sign of seizures, agitations, respiratory illness and nasal bloody and foamy discharge. Due to their bad conditions, the rabbits died shortly after the physical exam. The gross pathology was characterized by hemorrhagic diathesis, catarrhal-hemorrhagic rhinitis, laryngitis and tracheitis with the presence in lumen of a frothy and hemorrhagic liquid. The lesions seen in lungs were consisting in hemorrhagic pneumonia and edema, in liver a necrotic hepatitis, while in kidneys lesions with hemorrhagic pattern.