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By Miriam Raftery
April 25, 2024 (San Diego’s East County)—A cluster of rabbit deaths in the past week in the Jamul-Dulzura areas has residents and wildlife officials concerned. The State Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking anyone who finds a dead or dying wild rabbit to immediately report it online at Wildlife Mortality Reporting (ca.gov), or phone 916-358-2790.
A state wildlife official told East County Magazine that Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (HDV2) is a likely possible reason for the deaths, though Tularemia, a tick-born disease also known as Rabbit Fever, is another possibility. A third option suspected locally is a parasite infection, which can migrate to the brain.
Connie Kirkpatrick says she found a dead rabbit and another near death in the Barrett Junction/Dulzura area, with “bellies that were tick riddled” and no other apparent abnormalities. Others are reporting rabbit deaths on social media. “Everybody has been finding dead rabbits, from Jamul all the way up to the mountain areas,” she told East County Magazine two days ago.
But Kirkpatrick says when she called the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, she was provided procedures to bury the carcasses, but no offer to pick them up for testing. Another state employee later contacted her asking to test the body, but it was too late.
State wildlife official confirms cluster of local rabbit deaths, asks residents to file reports
Deana Clifford, a senior wildlife veterinarian with CDFW, confirmed in a conversation with East County Magazine, “We’ve had a significant uptick in reports” with “roughly 11 dead rabbits” reported in the past few day. While it’s impossible to test every dead rabbit due to budget constraints, she said, “We triage. We especially pay attention to multiple rabbit mortality or an uptick, so right now we’re very interested in getting a couple of carcasses” to test, particularly from the Dulzura and Jamul areas.
Testing should ideally be done within 48 hours of death, but no more than 72 hours. The rabbit must have an intact liver, but if a carcass has been scavenged and eviscerated by predators such as hawks or coyotes, it may not be possible to test it.
Three rabbit illnesses may be causing local rabbit deaths
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Fever 2 was first found in San Diego County in June 2020, when a desert cottontail from Poway tested positive. The disease is fatal 30 to 90 percent of the time in European rabbits, but not enough data is available yet to confirm mortality rates in U.S. rabbit species. In 2021, 11 more cases were found including black-tailed jackrabbits and desert cottontails, including cases in Santee, Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, Borrego Springs, San Vicente Ecological Reserve in Lakeside, Alpine, Ramona, and Campo. No cases were found locally in 2022 or 2023, though only 10 were tested.
This year, so far CDFW has received 21 reports of dead rabbits and has tested four, including one each from Spring Valley, Bonita, Oceanside and Chula Vista, but all four were negative for RHDV4. Though bleeding from the mouth is often a sign of RHDV4 (along with convulsions, lethargy and breathing trouble), some rabbit carcasses that test positive did not have any external bleeding.
To protect domestic rabbits from RHDV4, the Calif. Dept. of Food and Agriculture urges owners to prevent contact with wild rabbits. Keep rabbits indoors or if outdoors, off the ground when possible. Avoid feeding hay grown or stored outdoors in areas where wild rabbits are affected, and use biosecurity measures to prevent spreading the virus.
RHDV4 is not transmissible to dogs, people, or other wildlife, though other animals may spread the disease
By contrast, Clifford says, “Tularemia is absolutely capable of being a zoonotic disease,” meaning it can spread to other species including humans. The most common form of transmission is through bites of fleas or ticks, though handling a rabbit or carcass with Tularemia can also transmit the disease, if a person is not wearing gloves and taking appropriate other precautions. Tularemia has been sporadically found in San DIego County. See Tularemia (sandiegocounty.gov) for details.
As for parasitic disease, this was suspected in several rabbits being stored in freezer for testing at Project Wildlife in Ramona, but when a freezer lost power, the carcasses degraded and could not be tested.
What to do if you find a dead rabbit
“People should not handle dead rabbits without protection,” Clifford advises. You can find more information on RHDV2, including safe handling instructions, at Disease and Mortality Monitoring (ca.gov).
The agency’s online reporting site, Wildlife Mortality Reporting (ca.gov), is monitored twice daily. If you find a rabbit carcass, one option to help protect it until testing can be done is to put ice on the body (while wearing gloves) and then cover it with a box or towel to discourage predators. You can also call phone 916-358-2790.
As for Kirkpatrick’s complaint that a CDFW phone line worker told her to bury the rabbit carcass in plastic bags instead of having it tested, CDFW has acknowledged it should have been tested.
Clifford assures, “We are reaching out to our main phone line for the south coast region to ensure they have the latest guidance on what to advise people when they call.”
Tips to protect baby rabbits
Clifford also asked ECM to remind readers that springtime is when baby rabbits, or kits, are commonly found and sometimes mistakenly removed by well-intentioned people. “We encourage people that might find an uninjured kit under a bush to not disturb the area and leave it where they found it,” she says. “Mother rabbits often leave and hide their young for many hours, and only nurse a few times a day. Additional guidance can be found at Project Wildlife | San Diego Humane Society (sdhumane.org)
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