The first message he received came from a cabin owner who reported five dead hares lying on the grass by the cabin. They were neither emaciated nor had visible signs of illness. Agricultural adviser Harald Andersen in the Vesteråles municipality of Hadsel immediately thought of hare plague. Some of the hares were sent to the Veterinary Institute for autopsy. At the same time, he went out in the local newspaper and asked people to report if they came across dead hares in the municipality. – Then we got more phone calls. Also from neighboring municipalities. Lots of dead hares were found everywhere. One had found nine dead hares in one place. After a quick count, Andersen and his colleagues at the agricultural office were able to ascertain that during the past three weeks close to 100 dead hares had been found in the municipalities of Hadsel, Bø, Andøy and Øksnes. Several tens of hares have been found dead in four municipalities in Vesterålen in recent weeks. No one knows why so far. – People have come across the hares while mowing the lawn, on a bike ride or mowing the lawn. And the hares look completely normal, says Andersen. And adds: – Something is happening. We still see live hares, but there are significantly fewer than there were earlier this year and last year. Not plague of hares Something else he is puzzled by is that the dead hares are often found out in open fields or along roads, not in the woods or outback. And a great many of the dead hares are young hares. At the weekend, the answer came from the Veterinary Institute. It is not hare plague that is the cause of death. Andersen says that the hares have become a topic of conversation in the municipality. A resident of the neighboring municipality of Øksnes suggested that it could be a form of hepatitis that has killed the hares. This photo of a hare was taken in Bø Vesterålen a few years ago, when there were considerably more hares than now this autumn. Photo: Bjørnar Hansen Andersen supports that theory, and has passed it on to the Veterinary Institute. – What the dead hares have in common is blood discharge in the chest cavity. It may indicate rabbit jaundice or rabbit hemorrhagic fever. Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a serious and highly contagious disease that primarily affects rabbits. RHDV is usually divided into two variants, classic RHDV-1 and a newer RHDV-2. The latter variant can also cause disease in certain hare species. The RHDV viruses are easily contagious, both through direct and indirect contact. Infection can also be transmitted via insects. Both variants of the virus are highly resistant and can survive at least three months in the environment. Infection control can be demanding. The disease is a B disease and is notifiable to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. In connection with disease outbreaks, all rabbits in connection with the outbreak should be vaccinated since the probability of infection is high even with strict hygienic measures. New rabbits should be vaccinated at least 14 days before being introduced after sanitation. Source: The Norwegian Veterinary Institute. The disease is caused by various viruses, which attack the animal’s internal organs and cause bleeding. The disease has a mortality rate of 70–90 percent, and is highly contagious. The animals usually die 12–36 hours after they develop symptoms. – This agrees well with the bleeding, says Andersen, who emphasizes that this is only a theory. Last year, the disease was detected for the first time in Norway. It happened in a colony of wild rabbits in Klepp in Rogaland. Andersen also has a theory about how hare death has spread to the entire region in a short time. – Birds that have eaten on the carcasses move, and this is how the virus spreads. Now he fears that hare death could spread out of the region. Nevertheless, he does not believe that the hare tribe in Vesterålen is about to become extinct. – It may be nature’s own way of regulating the hare population. Expert: – Never heard of anything like it Senior researcher Hans Christian Pedersen at the Norwegian Institute of Natural Sciences (NINA) has done a lot of research on hares. He is surprised by the mass death in Vesterålen. Hans Christian Pedersen is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), and has researched hares. Photo: NINA – It sounds violent. I’ve never heard of anything like it, says Pedersen. He says that hares are primarily susceptible to diseases. – But I have heard of such violent results. Pedersen emphasizes that he is not an expert on game diseases. But says that if it is a question of disease, the hares must have been in contact with each other in one way or another. – Hares are not particularly social animals, but they like to use the same areas. If the population is high, any infection could spread quite quickly. He is far from ruling out that the hares have been killed by predators. A tiny baby hare tries to make itself invisible to the photographer at Fjærvoll in Bø in Vesterålen. Photo: Bjørnar Hansen – We would not have seen such a volume if it had involved collisions or attacks from predators. Will probably be sent to Sweden Malin Rokseth Reiten is specialist in wildlife health at the Veterinary Institute, who has examined three of the hares from Vesterålen. After hare plague was ruled out, further samples were taken of the hares. The Veterinary Institute will receive answers to these tests during the next week. In addition, institutes will notify the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. – Could it be an infectious disease? – We cannot conclude anything until we have the results from these tests. If liver changes are detected that could point in the direction of the serious jaundice disease, the Veterinary Institute will send the samples to Sweden to confirm or deny whether it actually is. No changes were detected in internal organs that indicate another disease, but samples have been taken to investigate this further, she explains further. She says that the hares had injuries to the chest and neck. Therefore, she will not completely rule out birds of prey or other predators.
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Mass death of hares in Hadsel, Bø, Øksnes and Andøy – news Nordland
