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RVHD Outbreak - New York, USA - December 13, 2001
CEI
Impact Worksheet: Not Available Online
CEI Summary Report
December 13, 2001- Statement from: Thomas E.
Walton, DVM, PhD, ScD
January 31, 2002 - Statement from: Thomas E.
Walton, DVM, PhD, ScD
*Note: Thomas E. Walton, DVM, PhD, ScD, Director of
Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health USDA, Animal & Plant Health
Inspection Service, Veterinary Services
Emergency
Management Warning :
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Confirmed in a
Captive Exotic Animal Facility in
Flushing, New York
Two out of six rabbits on exhibit in the domestic animal section at a
captive exotic animal facility were found dead on Saturday, December 1
and Sunday, December 2, 2001, respectively. Two additional rabbits were
in an off exhibit area for a total of eight rabbits in the collection.
This is not considered a zoonotic disease. Animals were necropsied by
zoo pathologists and lesions consistent with rabbit hemorrhagic disease
(RHD) were found. Samples from the dead rabbits were sent to the Foreign
Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) on Plum Island, NY. Test
results were positive by hemagglutination on one rabbit and negative on
the other on Friday, December 7, 2001. A third exhibited rabbit died on
Sunday, December 9, 2001.
The remaining rabbits were quarantined and isolated from other animals.
The five remaining rabbits were euthanized on Monday, December 10, 2001,
and additional samples will be sent to FADDL. Cleaning and disinfection
of the area will be done.
From the epidemiological data gathered so far, the source of the virus
is unknown.
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the State Department of Agriculture of
New York, and facility managers are working together to address this
situation. VS will assist the affected State in the depopulation and
cleaning and disinfecting of the premises. VS will also investigate
reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease
surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect cases at
FADDL.
DNA Sequencing Results
from the Utah/Illinois RHD Outbreak in August 2001
The sequence alignments were taken from the
polymerase region of the RHDV genome. It showed distinct differences
between the 3 isolates (Mexico, Korea, Utah) and the Iowa isolate. The
sequence pair distance of the 3 isolates had percent similarities of
over 95% while the Iowa isolate differed more from the others. The
biggest difference was between the Iowa and the Utah isolates at 14.5%.
If you have any questions, please contact the USDA, APHIS, Veterinary
Services, Emergency Programs staff at 301-734-8073, 800-940-6524, or
EMOC@APHIS.USDA.GOV.
Please forward this information to other Federal, State, and
industry counterparts as necessary.
-----definitions---------
Emergency Management Issue is for information with no impact on APHIS
Emergency Management Notice is an ongoing incident with potential impact
on APHIS
Emergency Management Warning is an ongoing incident with almost certain
impact on APHIS
RABBIT HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE - USA (NEW YORK)
ProMED-Mail, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease - USA (New
York), ProMED-Mail 2001; 20011215.3040, <http://www.promedmail.org>,
Accessed 03 January 2006
Date: 13 Dec 2001 [the delay in posting is regretted - Mod.JW]
From: Thomas E Walton <Thomas.E.Walton@usda.gov>
Source: Official USDA APHIS release [edited]
Definition: Emergency Management Warning is an ongoing incident with
almost certain impact on APHIS.
Emergency Management Warning : Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (Viral
Hemorrhagic Disease of Rabbits ) in Flushing, New York.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Confirmed in a Captive Exotic Animal Facility
in Flushing, New York.
On 1 & 2 Dec 2001, 2 of 6 rabbits on exhibit in the domestic animal
section at a captive exotic animal facility were found dead. There were
2 additional rabbits in an off-exhibit area, for a total of 8 rabbits in
the collection.
This is not considered a zoonotic disease [i.e. no danger to humans].
Animals were necropsied by zoo pathologists, and lesions consistent with
rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) were found. Samples from the dead
rabbits were sent to the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL)
on Plum Island, New York.
Test results were positive by hemagglutination on one rabbit and
negative on the other on 7 Dec 2001. A third exhibited rabbit died on 9
Dec 2001. The remaining rabbits were quarantined and isolated from other
animals. The 5 remaining rabbits were euthanized on 10 Dec 2001, and
additional samples will be sent to FADDL. Cleaning and disinfection of
the area will be done.
From the epidemiological data gathered so far, the source of the virus
is unknown.
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the State Department of Agriculture of
New York, and facility managers are working together to address this
situation. VS will assist the affected State in the depopulation and
cleaning and disinfecting of the premises. VS will also investigate
reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease
surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect
cases at FADDL.
––
Thomas E Walton
<Thomas.E.Walton@usda.gov>
RABBIT HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE - USA
ProMED-Mail, Rabbit Hemorrhagic
Disease - USA, ProMed-Mail 2002, 20020203.3471 <http://www.promedmail.org>,
Accessed 03 January 2006
Date: 31 Jan 2002
From: Dr. Thomas E. Walton, USDA <walton@usda.gov>
In response to a number of questions submitted from the ProMED-mail
Moderator to the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS), Veterinary Services (VS) with regard to the outbreak of rabbit
hemorrhagic disease (RHD) that occurred in rabbits in the domestic area
of an exotic animal facility in NY, I offer the following:
1. Currently available epidemiologic information about the outbreak of
RHD that occurred in the affected facility is insufficient to ascribe an
origin for the rabbit calicivirus isolated. We have information that
rabbit meat from US-origin suppliers who receive rabbit meat from many
sources including rabbit meat imported from China was prepared for the
zoo carnivores in the same kitchen in which the rabbit diets were
prepared. Food and other samples from the kitchen have been received and
tested for rabbit caliciviruses at the USDA, APHIS, VS, Foreign Animal
Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Plum Island, NY. While RHD virus was
isolated from the rabbits in the petting zoo, all samples from the
kitchen have been negative for rabbit caliciviruses. USDA, APHIS does
not regulate imported commercial rabbit meat.
An alternate scenario is infection from rabbit owners who visited the
petting zoo. However, we have had no recent reports of RHD virus
infections in rabbitries in the United States. In short, we have no
unequivocal epidemiologic information on which to make a determination
of the origin of the virus.
2. USDA, APHIS has not issued any alerts attributing the RHD outbreak at
the facility to RHD-virus infected rabbit meat because we have
insufficient information to make such a recommendation. It would be less
than responsible to warn of "RHD virus-infected rabbit meat" when we
have no idea if that is true. US experiences with RHD have involved
backyard "herds" and now, the petting zoo.
3. USDA, APHIS has no indication that RHD virus-infected rabbit meat has
been imported into the United States. However, the rabbit meat suppliers
receive their supply from various companies, including one company that
imports rabbit meat from China.
4. USDA, APHIS has no data to suggest that US-origin rabbit meat is fed
at the affected facility. This is unclear because the company from which
the zoo purchases is of US origin but receives meat from China through a
chain of suppliers. There is no way to determine how much meat was
directly from China and how much meat was of US origin.
5. The RHD viruses are considered exotic to the United States. As stated
previously, "commercial" rabbit producers have not reported disease.
Extensive tracebacks from this and earlier outbreaks have not yielded
any indication of an associated origin from US rabbit raisers, including
commercial producers. Therefore, no meat from infected rabbits reaches
commercial distribution. It is improbable that US origin rabbit meat
infected with RHD virus has been marketed to wholesale or retail
outlets.
Thomas E. Walton, DVM, PhD, ScD, Director
Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health
USDA, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service
Veterinary Services
Fort Collins, CO
<walton@usda.gov>
Rabbit hemorrhagic
disease in the US 2001
CEI
Summary Report:
In early
December 2001, rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) was confirmed in a
domestic rabbit housed in a captive exotic animal facility in Flushing,
New York. This is the third confirmed occurrence of RHD in the US. The
previous 2 outbreaks occurred in August 2001 in a rabbitry in Utah, and
in March 2000 on a premises with pet rabbits in Iowa. The source of
these outbreaks was not established.
Source:
APHIS Emergency Management Warning, Dec 13, 2001; CEI Impact worksheets.
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