http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/art...nding_myxo.htm

i have seen many rabbits which have this i found this on the web for people who are unfamiliar with it

Myxi is horrendous, my pet rabbits are vaccinated against this twice a year (aswell as VHD) and even then it is not a 100% guaruntee they won't get it

I had a rabbit that died of myxi, I was only about 8 or 9 years old then. It was horrific. As soon as it was said it was myxi, that was it, she was pts. She looked so sad

I think it's a disgusting way to deal with the control of rabbits and just as disgusting that most the rabbits you see in some areas all have it. More have it than not It is a terrible sight seeing those poor rabbits swollen up with nasty sores all over them I can't believe that this is seen as an acceptable method of control.

Does anyone know if VHD was also man made or released into the wild as a form of control?

OMG that's so horrible

it is somewhat disgusting and a disturbing way to die, people complain about the use of terriers especially on wild rabbits for control but they deal with them instantlly none of the suffering and such, its a terrible thing tis mixy i have lost a few pet/show rabbits to mxy from the the wild uns and its terrible, its ridiculous that man had to resort to this to deal with the mere likes of the common wild rabbit

VHD was released in Australia the same way as Myxi was here to cull the wild population of Rabbits, it was VERY successful!

It originated in China, and migrated all across Europe and into parts of America.
Dawn.

Myxie was introduced here in the 1950s to control the wild rabbits, who were reaching plague levels. It was spread using specially-bred black rabbits who were naturally immune, so could carry the disease to wherever rabbits went.

This was an early attempt to use "bilogical control" methods - using something to kill a pest species (which is what rabbits were considered to be, then) without harming anything else and without upsetting the natural ecosystem. In the case of myxie, it had the "advantage" (?) of being cheap and easy to spread to the target species. IN PRINCIPLE , such biological controls are the safest option environmentally, and, in some cases, quite "acceptable" (one example is the breeding of sterile males of certain mosquito species of which the females mate only once, then releasing overwhelming numbers of these sterile males. The female mates with a sterile male, then won't mate with a fertile male, resulting in fewer eggs to hatch).

In Australia, at the height of the cochineal industry, vast areas of cacti were planted as food for the cochineal beetle. When the cacti increased to problem levels, they were controlled by the introduction of a moth (Cactoblastis cactorum) whose larvae wouldn't eat anything else. The larvae devastated the cactuses, then died out naturally as their food supply diminished.

Nowadays, biological controls such as these are very carefully researched beforehand in order to assesss the long-term side effects. It seems that myxie wasn't researched as thoroughly as it might have been - a modern biological control is supposed to die out as the target species diminishes, but myxie is still with us.

I see myxie rabbits around here quite a lot, but I haven't seen that many recently (that's not to say they aren't there any more, though). If there were, I MIGHT let the dogs take them out, but I wouldn't let them eat one. Mind you, I don't really want my dogs killing anything - not even the local rats (they carry lepto, which is why I keep the dogs' boosters up to date).

Snorri

Myxie at the moment is popping up everywhere it seems, I would certainly make sure that all rabbits including house rabbits are vaccinated against it. We have heard of it in many places in Kent, Essex, Bracknell, Fleet, Engleford Green, Twickenham, Ashford (Middlesex), Staines, Epsom and that is only the places I can remember in the south east.

With the weather being so mild at the moment, a lot of the biting insects have not been killed by the cold. The problem should settle down a little as soon as we start getting the cold nights arrive.

Whilst vaccination is not 100% effective it certainly does help protect them for it. A lady across the road from me lost all 5 of her rabbits last week to it, so far mine are unaffected and hopefully will remain so, all mine are vaccinated

Janice