Pet rabbits in Vancouver apartment building died of lethal disease: ministry

An extremely infectious disease has killed several pet rabbits in a downtown Vancouver apartment building, says B.C.'s agriculture ministry.

The province's chief veterinary officersays owners in the building must vaccinate their rabbits for rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a virus that affects a rabbit's blood vessels and attacks the liver and other organs.

It has also issued a general order under the Animal Health Act to stop owners from moving rabbits in or out of the building.

The ministry did not say which building it was.

The lethal disease is exclusive to rabbits, and people and other animals such as dogs and cats can not be infected.

The ministry says it's supplying a vaccination to veterinarians throughout the province and that many pet rabbits have already been immunized.

Rabbit owners are being advised to contact a veterinarian immediately if they notice signs of illness in their pets. Onceinfected, signs of illness usually show up within one to nine days.

The disease has previously been found in feral, commercial and pet rabbits in Parksville, the Comox Valley, Nanaimo, Richmond, and Delta.

The SPCA temporarily stopped taking rabbits into its Nanaimo shelter last year after tests on dead feral rabbits found in the city determined they had died of the disease.

At the time, the SPCA said the disease had been diagnosed for the first time in British Columbia after two other cases elsewhere in Canada.