Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Drought, disaster and rural support
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Levies and charges on agricultural products
    • Mouse infestation advice
    • Plant health
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Report a concern
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Plant Innovation Centre
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Budget 2025-26

    Budget 2025-26

    The 2025–26 Portfolio Budget Statements were released on 25 March 2025.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Agriculture and land
  3. Animal
  4. Animal health
  5. Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (Calicivirus)

Sidebar first - Animal

  • Animal health
    • Australian Chief Veterinary Officer
      • Consider a career as an Australian Government Veterinarian
    • Australia and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
    • Australia's animal health system
      • National Recognition of Veterinary Registration
    • Australia's animal health laboratories
      • Diagnostic procedures
        • Aquatic and terrestrial Australian and New Zealand standard diagnostic procedures (ANZSDPs)
        • Reviewing and preparing ANZSDPs
          • Establishing the need for an Australian and New Zealand standard diagnostic procedure
          • Guide for authors writing an ANZSDP
          • Editorial and approval process for ANZSDPs
        • Australian standard diagnostic techniques (ASDTs)
        • Other diagnostic procedures
      • Laboratory policies and guidelines
      • Laboratory tests
        • Approved tests
        • Measurement uncertainty
        • Routine tests
        • Developing and evaluating new veterinary laboratory tests
          • Validation template for extension of an existing assay
          • Validation template for nucleic acid detection (NAD)
          • Validation template for serological assays
      • Point-of-care tests
      • Reference laboratories and collaborating centres
        • Reference laboratories and collaborating centres
      • Disclaimer
      • Stakeholders
      • National Animal Health Diagnostics Business Plan
    • Antimicrobial Resistance
    • Australia Indonesia Partnership for Emerging Infectious Diseases
    • Bovine germplasm comparison project—Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States
      • Assessment of Systems Recognition of Quads Bovine Semen Collection Centres and Embryo Collection Teams
    • Committees that deal with animal health
      • Vet Communique
      • Animal Health Committee (AHC)
        • Our work
        • Animal health policies
        • Animal health updates
        • Resources
      • Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease (CCEAD)
    • Epidemiology and animal disease modelling
    • Protecting Australia from rabies
    • Livestock movement in Australia and emergency disease preparedness
      • Livestock movement summary
    • Myxomatosis vaccine availability in Australia
    • Private veterinarians engaged in an emergency animal disease response
    • Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (Calicivirus)
    • Strategic foresight of animal health trends
    • Surveillance
    • Timor Leste village poultry health and biosecurity program
    • Veterinary awakening
    • Veterinary public health
    • Virtual reality to support FMD training

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (Calicivirus)

RHDV1, RHDV1a variant and RHDV2

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), or calicivirus is a virus that typically causes a rapidly fatal disease in European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). There are three types of RHDV present in Australia (RHDV1, RHDV1a and RHDV2).

The classical RHDV1 strain was first released in Australia in 1996 to control wild rabbits.

Over time the effectiveness of the virus as a biocontrol agent has been decreasing. To boost the RHDV1 strain’s effectiveness, state and territory governments around Australia released RHDV1a, a new naturally occurring variant of RHDV1, in March 2017.

RHDV2 is a new strain of the calicivirus that was first reported in Europe in 2010, and was first detected in Australia in 2015. It is not known how the virus entered Australia. It is currently the dominant strain causing deaths in domestic rabbits.

RHDV2 has been found to infect rabbits and hares, but has not been found to infect or kill any native Australian mammals or other introduced species. Both the European brown hare and the European rabbit are invasive species to Australia and considered a threat to Australia’s environment and agricultural industry.

RHDV can be spread via direct contact with infected rabbits or their fomites (urine, faeces, saliva), via equipment and clothing, and also by vectors including flies.

To protect pet and production rabbits from possible RHDV infection, owners should implement good hygiene practices, ensure animals are protected through appropriate housing and insect proofing, ensure rabbits are vaccinated, and avoid contact with other rabbits – whether wild (feral) rabbits or pet rabbits from outside the household.

There are now two vaccines available for use in rabbits in Australia. The Cylap® vaccine currently used in Australia is effective against RHDV1 but may only provide partial protection against the RHDV2 strain. The Filavac VHD K C + V vaccine is an inactivated bivalent vaccine for rabbits which can provide protection against both RHDV1 and RHDV2, and this vaccine was recently approved for emergency use in Australia .

Rabbits owners should contact their local veterinarian for advice on rabbit vaccination and biosecurity measures specific to their pet or facility.

More information

Further information about RHDV and recommendations for vaccinating rabbits against all strains of Calicivirus are available on the Australian Veterinary Association website.

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 21 December 2022

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram