Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
Volume 21, Number 4—April 2015
Books and Media

Australia’s War against Rabbits: The Story of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease

Cite This Article

Brian D. Cooke
CISRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, 2014
ISBN: 9780643096127
Pages: 232; Price: US $79.95 (paperback)

In Australia’s War against Rabbits, Brian Cooke details the emergence of rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) in Asia and Europe and subsequent efforts to introduce RHD virus into Australia and New Zealand for rabbit control in the 1990s. The book documents the ecologic adaption between a virus and its animal host and provides cogent examples of our inability to contain the spread of (what was thought to be) a well-understood virus after it escaped into the environment.

The first failed containment effort ensued after the virus jumped from a quarantine compound on Wardang Island to the coast of South Australia 3 km away. Despite a program carefully designed to counter unplanned spread of RHD virus on the Australian mainland (Operation Garter), the virus prevailed. Uncontained spread also followed an intentional and illegal release of RHD virus in New Zealand in 1997 when a farmer with intractable rabbit problems allegedly smuggled the virus in from Australia. After the outbreak started, instead of helping the New Zealand government control RHD, farmers reportedly used blenders to make “rabbit smoothies” and actively spread RHD virus by applying these slurries to carrot baits.

The book is generally well written and heavily referenced and contains many anecdotes penned by a scientist obviously passionate about his work. The flow of the narrative can sometimes be erratic, however, veering from amusing personal stories to a didactic recounting of the taxonomy of rabbit parasites or legislation relevant to pest control in Australia. Australia’s War against Rabbits is best suited for professionals with a keen interest in rabbits, fleas, and their pathogens.

Top

Paul EfflerComments to Author 
Author affiliation: Associate Editor, Emerging Infectious Diseases; University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Top

Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid2104.142009

Related Links

Top

Table of Contents – Volume 21, Number 4—April 2015

EID Search Options
presentation_01 Advanced Article Search – Search articles by author and/or keyword.
presentation_01 Articles by Country Search – Search articles by the topic country.
presentation_01 Article Type Search – Search articles by article type and issue.

Top

Comments

Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Paul Effler, Department of Health, Communicable Disease Control Directorate, 227 Stubbs Terrace, Perth, WA 6008, Australia

Send To

10000 character(s) remaining.

Top

Page created: March 17, 2015
Page updated: March 17, 2015
Page reviewed: March 17, 2015
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external