myxomatosis in hares

I agree. It's was/is a loathsome solution to the rabbit 'problem' and hares are already in jeopardy.
 
Just seen on the news that they have found symptoms of a myxomatosis type disease in Hares
around East Anglia

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-45810869

Do hope this isn't the case, it will be devastating to an already declining population

Yes, heard it on the news a little earlier. In rabbit populations it can kill 90% of them in an area !!!!

I agree. It's was/is a loathsome solution to the rabbit 'problem' and hares are already in jeopardy.

Bearing in mind it has been in the UK for approx 50 years and as you mention an aweful "control method" so ill thought & conceived akin to the cane toad in Australia......for the stupidity of man!

The news item talked of never seen before as crossing species, so 50 years on it has changed??? That is more latterly what we now know about many viruses but this one has taken its time compared to say human influenza (the way it changes not the species jumping).
 
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Deeply concerning thanks for posting Ingrid,I knew nothing of this,. I worry for them already,it's one of the more densley populated areas that part of the world,it would be a terrible if this escalates. .I'm not really able to access my patch to know what's going on,this is a worry,hares can travel so far and populations be so wide ranging,the mixy type diseases shouldn't be so easily spread if they were as solitary as folks think they are ,but they aren't they interact so much.

So much of my time is dedicated towards learning about, and making images of, this animal I'd hate to loose them. They really don't need any more pressures than they are already under at the moment. I've had to put down so many rabbits over the years with mixy it's a loathsome way to die,so slow the weight loss is harrowing,the thought of hares going through this is aweful. i'm really hoping from the report it isn't myxomatosis but something lesser,in some way.:(.
 
The news item talked of never seen before as crossing species, so 50 years on it has changed??? That is more latterly what we now know about many viruses but this one has taken its time compared to say human influenza (the way it changes not the species jumping).
The rate at which different types of virus change varies a lot. Flu viruses can change very quickly, not just because they are prone to mutation, but also because it's easy for two Flu viruses that happen to infect the same cell to swap segments of their genomes ('reassortment'), creating new (and sometimes much more dangerous) combinations.

Perhaps the Myxoma virus has changed recently, but it's also possible this is a different virus altogether. The article mentions 'haemorrhagic disease' as a possible culprit, and a new virus called RHDV2, originally identified in France in 2010, has recently spread rapidly across Europe, and was detected in the UK in 2014. It is known to infect both rabbits and hares.
 
One theory on myxi is it is spread by fleas, it seems to run in cycles of 3 to 5 years
One person I spoke to suggested that when the population has been attacked, the survivors stay in the shallower burrows
leaving many empty and unused, as the population grows they move into these areas and the fleas waken and it all
starts again :(
It is an awful disease and I admit to helping a few along there way or letting my dogs finish them in the past
although my big brave GSD failed in that, ran up to one and when it didn't run off came back to me for protection

I do hope it isn't rabbit myxi, will be devastating if it is
 
Having said that 60 years of Myxi in rabbits and there still seems to be plenty of them about.

Yes but hares have declined dramatically, they don't need anything to help reduce the numbers :(
 
Yes, heard it on the news a little earlier. In rabbit populations it can kill 90% of them in an area !!!!



Bearing in mind it has been in the UK for approx 50 years and as you mention an aweful "control method" so ill thought & conceived akin to the cane toad in Australia......for the stupidity of man!

The news item talked of never seen before as crossing species, so 50 years on it has changed??? That is more latterly what we now know about many viruses but this one has taken its time compared to say human influenza (the way it changes not the species jumping).

This is a horrible example of the hideous things that human beings are capable of. Such a shame if it's spreading to hares :(
 
An expert on the Today programme was sure it was Myxi. What a sad thing to happen to our lovely hares. They are such a class apart from rabbits.

Recent reports elsewhere are much less certain about the cause:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...ly-amid-fears-myxomatosis-has-jumped-rabbits/
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/mystery-disease-hare-deaths-east-anglia-1-5732546

Unless this has changed in the last couple of days, we still don't know for sure. Both the Myxoma virus and the original RHDV (haemorrhagic disease virus) discovered in the 1980s have been spread deliberately by humans to kill rabbits in the wild. But the new RHDV2 virus seems to have emerged independently (it may have jumped into rabbits and hares from some other species) and is spreading all by itself. This time, it may not be our fault.
 
. But the new RHDV2 virus seems to have emerged independently (it may have jumped into rabbits and hares from some other species) and is spreading all by itself. This time, it may not be our fault.

Apart, of course, for the factor that neither of the two original diseases would have been around in the first place in the UK but for the actions of humans, let alone the RHDV2 Virus; but then again, neither would rabbits or (probably) brown hares themselves.

Historically, doesn't the human race have something of a reputation for majorly buggering up the ecology of the planet, then making it even worse by trying to cack-handedly reverse the impact of the initial act of stupidity. Sometimes I think we'd baffle the panel on 'What's My Line' as a so-called intelligent species!
 
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Apart, of course, for the factor that neither of the two original diseases would have been around in the first place in the UK but for the actions of humans, let alone the RHDV2 Virus; but then again, neither would rabbits or (probably) brown hares themselves.

Well, I suppose the distinction between spreading these viruses deliberately (as with Myxoma and RHDV) and inadvertantly allowing them to hitchhike on our transport systems (presumably the case with RHDV2) is lost on the poor rabbits and hares!

Historically, doesn't the human race have something of a reputation for majorly buggering up the ecology of the planet, then making it even worse by trying to cack-handedly reverse the impact of the initial act of stupidity. Sometimes I think we'd baffle the panel on 'What's My Line' as a so-called intelligent species!

http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/scripts/bart-the-mother

Kent Brockman reads the news.

KENT
Our top story, the population of parasitic tree lizards has exploded, and local citizens couldn't be happier! It seems the rapacious reptiles have developed a taste for the common pigeon, also known as the 'feathered rat', or the 'gutter bird'. For the first time, citizens need not fear harassment by flocks of chattering disease-bags.

Later, Bart receives an award from Mayor Quimby outside the town hall. Several lizards slink past.

QUIMBY
For decimating our pigeon population, and making Springfield a less oppressive place to while away our worthless lives, I present you with this scented candle.

Skinner talks to Lisa.

SKINNER
Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.

LISA
But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

SKINNER
No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

LISA
But aren't the snakes even worse?

SKINNER
Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

LISA
But then we're stuck with gorillas!

SKINNER
No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
 
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