vhd2 and the rhd2 vaccination

[Binky]

My vets phoned me back to say they can't get the new vaccine at the moment from their usual vaccine supplier, who told them that their isn't a new vaccine at the moment I suppose because it doesn't seem to be widely available in this country yet.

I've told my vets that if they can get hold of any of the vaccine that I would like all 4 of mine done. I have given them the name of the new vaccine and they are going to try and find out some more about it.

Vets can't get it through their usual reps, if they want it they have to order it themselves from the suppliers, RWAF and FHB have published some information for vets on how to go about it:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articl ... er-vaccine

It's taking absolutely ages now though, the first few vets to order got it through in a few days but others have been in the system for a couple of weeks without a response...

[Foofy]

Thanks for this Binky, I will pass it on to my vets and hope they will order some

[Binky]

So, it would seem there is no more vaccine available for this country at the moment - the German company who supply it haven't any available (either at all or for export - not sure which of these two is the correct one).. but the situation is that it unknown as to when the UK can expect any more....!

[sdf76]

copied from RWAF facebook on 30th Jan 2016

The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund

RE RVHD2
Hi All. To avoid confusion between vets and owners, this same message is going out to all our vet and owner members so that everyone will have the same information available.
RVHD2 IS present in the UK, and has been for a couple of years , as evidenced by the Westcott and Choudhury paper ( WESTCOTT D. G., CHOUDHURY B.
(2015) Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2-like variant in Great Britain. Veterinary Record 176, 74 doi:10.1136/vr.102830).
Since that paper came out, we have had a number of reports, from Dorset to East Anglia, of laboratory confirmed RVHD2. We have also had a large number of unconfirmed reports, based on a range of findings, from clinical suspicion, to detailed post mortems.
We established an import process for "Cunivak RHD", and, unfortunately have exhausted the company's stocks. We are therefore exploring other vaccine options.
To bring everyone up to speed on the situation:
1. Is the current Nobivac Myxo-RHD effective against RVHD2? No, unfortunately not, according to MSD, the company making it. However, it is vital to still continue to vaccinate rabbits against Myxomatosis, the main preventable fatal viral disease of rabbits, and RVHD1, which is still the main strain found in the UK, with Nobivac Myxo-RHD.
2. What exactly is the supply situation with Cunivak RHD? To the best of our knowledge, this is completely out of stock, and a date for new supplies is still not known. We await more information on this from the company. When we have more information on this, or the next point, we will send out another message to everyone on our list.
3. Are other vaccines available? We are revisiting the other vaccines that we identified earlier, in order to determine if another option is available. We initially selected Cunivak as it was available in single doses, to avoid splitting multidose vials with short shelf lives once open, between rabbits, as this could have biosecurity concerns if vaccinating a large number of rabbits in a short space of time. This process is likely to take some time, but once we know more, we will let people know the details.
One thing that would REALLY help us is if vets and owners can report any cases of RVHD. If you know of any, please could you contact us on hq@rabbitwelfare.co.uk with the following info: approximate geographical location; number of rabbits affected and their ages; how diagnosed: eg suspected, gross post mortem, histopathology, or specific viral test, in which case was this RVHD1 or RVHD2.
We would recommend that vets reserve a second dose of vaccine for those rabbits which have already received a first dose. If you are a vet who has already vaccinated a rabbit with a first dose, and has insufficient vaccine for that animal's second dose, please contact me via hq@rabbitwelfare.co.uk to discuss the options.

[Foofy]

Thank you for the above information about the new vaccine.

One of the vet nurses at my surgery did phone me back and said they had been investigating the new vaccine and had found it wasn't available in this country yet. She said it would be up to the practice owner whether he wanted to import any, but she didn't sound too hopeful he would do this, but there's none available at the moment anyway so I suppose thats irrevelent now!

[Foofy]

Had a text from my Vets today to say they will now be getting the new vaccine and they will let me know when it's in stock and the price. Doesn't sound like they know its now out of stock everywhere through but at least they are going to do it

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[mini lop1]

Hope they get the vaccine situation sorted I was rather upset my vets deleted my post on their page about it and never responded, I have since found the vets my sister uses for her dog where looking into getting it and if the latest set back tesolves will be taking my bun there as they where very helpful and polite in emails

[sdf76]

I think the thing to remember is that the RVHD2 has been around for many years- we 've only heard about it now because they have developed a vaccine for it. Also the combi vaccine (Myxomatosis and VHD) that rabbits have annually does confer some protection against this new strain of RHVD. Also some rabbits may have immunity and the mortality rate for the new virus is no-where near as bad as the original VHD.
Frances-Harcourt Brown has gone in to some detail on the subject in this link, which is very interesting. ( there is one pic of a rabbit op).

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articl ... ic-disease

I don't feel there's any need to panic.
I'm sure stocks of the new vaccine will be available soon.
sue

[sdf76]

The new VHD vaccine called RHD2 I think? is now available at many UK vets. I think the difficulty is that it comes in larges vials of about 50 doses, which when opened, only have a short shelf life of about 2 hours?. Do contact your vet for more information and price.
I understand it has to be given some weeks apart from the routine VHd/Myxi annual combo vaccine, which your rabbits will still need.

sue

[RabbitResidenceEllen]

I really need to get my guys done but haven't had any time to go to the vet recently (and thankfully they haven't needed to!) but now things are easing and I can start looking into it. They are due their usuals in November- a pity I didn't get them done in May or so, then they could have a six monthly check-up each year.