Can Mosquitoes Kill Rabbits?

During the 1950’s, there was an epidemic of rabbit disease in Australia. This disease was caused by the rabbit myxoma virus and is transmitted by mosquitoes. It is a highly contagious disease which nearly always kills the infected rabbits.

Affected rabbits develop fever, swollen noses, swollen eyes and skin lesions. They become listless, infected and die within a few weeks. The disease can be controlled by preventing the rabbits from coming into contact with mosquitoes or biting insects.

There are two vaccines available in Australia. One of these is called Frontline, which has been associated with severe adverse reactions in rabbits. The other is called Advantage, which is an imidocloprid.

The first outbreak of myxomatosis in Australia killed almost all of the rabbits. However, the second outbreak, which was coincident with the presence of mosquitoes, only killed about 40-60% of the rabbits. This was attributed to the less virulent strain of the virus which replaced the original virulent strain.

CSIRO scientists predicted that the disease would decline. To conduct experiments, a irrigated dairy farm at Gunbower was chosen. The population of rabbits was estimated to be around 4000. The experiment began in late August. The sightings of diseased rabbits significantly decreased after the start of the experiment.

The results were disappointing. The mortality rate dropped from 99.8 percent to approximately 90 percent. In addition, the virus was not spread from warren to warren. This resulted in an increase in genetic resistance. The rabbits that were resistant were weeded out of the rabbit population.

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