RHD and DIC

• RHD is caused by rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), also known as rabbit calicivirus (RCV).
• RHDV2 is less virulent than RHDV and also has a lower mortality. Disease caused by RHDV2 has variable mortality and can present as sudden death (ie, peracute or cute) or, in contrast to classical RHD, subacute or chronic disease. The incubation period is between three and nine days, and clinical signs can last up to five days. A RHDV2 infection can be difficult to diagnose in the early stages of the disease as the typical clinical signs associated with classical RHD may be absent (eg, epistaxis). A proportion of infected animals remain subclinical and may shed virus for several weeks.
• RHDV2 Peracute = Sudden death in apparently clinically health rabbits; in-contact rabbits, if affected, may die in one to three days, sometimes longer  
• Acute RHD = Rabbits initially display signs of malaise and die within 12 to 36 hours from the onset of pyrexia (temperatures above 40.1°C). Depression, anorexia and/or lethargy and general malaise. Other possible signs include: dyspnoea, cyanosis, congestion of the palpebral conjunctiva and circulatory shock with severe hypotension, ataxia, recumbency, paddling, paralysis, opisthotonos, convulsions. Vocalisation: described as crying or squealing/screaming can occur
• Subacute to chronic RHD = Lethargy, anorexia, weight loss and severe jaundice. In some animals concurrent underlying diseases (eg, common infections such as rhinitis) may become clinical. Surviving animals shed the virus for a protracted period. Death, if it occurs, usually happens one to two weeks after the onset of the clinical signs, and is generally a result of liver dysfunction.   
• Subclinical RHD = A proportion of infected animals remain subclinical and may shed virus for up to two months