Myxomatosis HELP!

[prink13]

Hi all, long story which I won't bore you all with, but does anyone know if suspected myxomatosis is reportable and if so to whom?

Kathi

[prink13]

[cambourne7]

call Defra Helpline: 08459 33 55 77 (Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm).

[prink13]

Thanks Cambourne - that's what I thought, but didn't think of it until it was too late to call them today!

[Barnowl]

We never reported it when I was young - just bonked them on the head to put them out of their misery, but with the burgeoning army of bureaucrats that try to rule our lives it wouldn't surprise me if it was now reportable. Don't see what they can do about it though.

[cambourne7]

i think its just so that they can be aware of it.....

[angle shades]

a friend of mine  who had a lottie with rabbits on it told the council and they gave the rabbits myxy :o >:(/shades x

[tim k]

don't think its reportable i have never known anybody to report it

is it on private land or public? reason for asking if its private land i may be able to contact people that would humanely dispatch them

and it doesnt cost anything

if its public land i could email you some detail of how to do it yourself but its not pleasant

hth

tim

[prink13]

OK, thanks for all the replies. Story goes like this:

Found one of my cats chasing a large rabbit this morning, I nearly ran over them both! rabbit had very large bulging eyes and was blind, it kept running into things on the side of road. After bringing cat home, and chasing rabbit into field, I didn't think anything of it until chatting with my Mum. She suddenly mentioned myxomatosis, and wondered whether the cat could contract it from the rabbit? I have looked it up and it seems that the cat cannot catch it. However, being a big softy, I am now worried about the rabbit, and wondered if as myx is such a prolific disease once it gets in the local population, whether it should then be reported to DEFRA

Any advice gladly taken

Kathi

[tim k]

if i see them i normally despatch then burn the corpses if you have seen one its already in the area

you may want to DE flea the cat as rabbits carry thousands my jrt is always picking up fleas from poking round rabbit warrens

it is an awful disease and upsetting when you see it but the only thing you can really do to help is dispatch the rabbit as they don't normally recover

if you have a cut on you hand though its best not to touch a sick rabbit a farmer recently died due to handling rabbits he had shot! contracted a disease through an open blister on his hand

cant think of the name of the desease at the mo but could find out if you need it

hth

tim

[prink13]

Thanks Tim, funnily enough de-flead cat last weekend. Will look for rabbit again in morning

Kathi

[Carol]

Hopefully the rabbit will be dead or some other person has seen the poor animal and put it out of its misery.  Its a horrible disease, I certainly don't think it needs to be reported.   :-\

[tim k]

Hopefully the rabbit will be dead or some other person has seen the poor animal and put it out of its misery.  Its a horrible disease, I certainly don't think it needs to be reported.   :-\

i agree nature has a way of taking care of these things i don't think i would go out looking for it though

[Robert_Brenchley]

I doubt whether it would be reportable as it's been endemic across the country for many years. Reportable diseases tend to be the less common ones, or where there are special circimstances. For instance, varroa mites in beehives were made reportable in order to monitor their spread. Everyone enentually stopped bothering, as everyone had them, and there was no longer anything to be learnt. It's now been officially removed from the list.

Two serious brood diseases, American Foul Brood and European Foul Brood, have been on the list for many years, due to theri seriousness. AFB isn't common in Britain, fortunately, is controlled by burning infected colonies, and remains on the list, otherwise you'd get idiots leaving hives to spread disease. A few years ago, the worst case ever reported, with over 100 hives infected, was found near Coventry. The disease had obviously been in the hives for years, but the owner (they all belonged to one man) wasn't checking. It's still cropping up in hives in the area.

EFB isn't so serious, is now controllable without much difficulty, and there's been a lot of controversy about whether it should still be reportable. The problem here is, it's hard to diagnose accurately, but the gonvernment wants to cut services to save money, so it'll probably come off the list. Unsurprisingly, it's become far more common since they cut back the number of bee instectors some years ago. But there's no real reason for myxy to be reportable.