News > Environment, Rapidly spreading virus killing rabbits in Southern California, written by Martin Wisckol, July 16, 2020 (link)

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 has been infecting the rabbits in southern California. Reports of this disease have been spotted in various counties: Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino. 90% of rabbits are killed when exposed to this illness. Some symptoms include a lack of appetite, fever, and difficulty breathing. Despite there being a vaccine, this disease is still hard to track in the wild.      

It’s crazy that this disease is so lethal to rabbits, and that this is happening in areas pretty close to where I live. I was surprised to find out that rabbits could drop dead without showing symptoms. This article has to do with environmental science in several ways. For one, RHDV2 is an environmental-related disease. Also, the effects of this sickness could result in the changing of ecosystems. Certain animals, such as bobcats and coyotes, depend on rabbits as a food source. The dwindling in numbers could be highly detrimental to those predators.