Mixy's here already.................

[Ferret Master]

t was not created by man however it was introduced into the UK by man in the 1950's in an attempt to reduce the numbers of wild rabbit

 

Youre wrong!! IT is a genetically modified virus made by man to kill rabbits!!! So its created. :unsure:

 

and yes rabbit fleas do carry them and so do mossies. How did the rabbit fleas get 4 foot off the ground into the cage that i shot the rabbit in last night?

 

How do all the townies get thier rabbits killed by mixy? Mosquitoes!!!!!!!

I was of the understanding that myxy naturally occured in other parts of the World in the wild rabbit population however it had built up a resistance to it and was unaffected? A bit like grey squirrels and parapox.

 

It was first introduced into Australia, then France shortly followed by Britain?

 

Rabbits can build up an immunity to 'IT' but as the virus mutates these rabbits are no longer protected.

 

FM

[Browning GTS]

I get the odd one now a again mind you nothing noted now since about last October

[Scarpa]

Yup - always thought that it originated in South America. And you can put your minds at rest... there are no health effects to humans from eating even the scabbiest mixy'd up wabbit.

[Evil Elvis]

I was of the understanding that myxy naturally occured in other parts of the World in the wild rabbit population

 

You are correct, but it was ,as i understood genetically tampered with to make it more virulent.Same as the ossies have done with the haemorrhagic disease recently...........

Edited July 23, 2008 by Evil Elvis

[scout]

Gt it down in the South West as well. Very strange though. I only see it on one of Rubberlegs permissions, and then only in one field, which is really odd. Any one else got something strange like this?

[Evil Elvis]

Shot another 7 last night...2 had mixy....doh!! :blink:

[bob300w]

Shot another 7 last night...2 had mixy....doh!! :blink:

The other 5 were obviously myopic and arthritic...........

[gixer1]

It usually appears up here in scotland around August every year, it's a hell of a nasty way to go...poor things.

[Evil Elvis]

The other 5 were obviously myopic

 

Blimey...you swallowed a medical dictionary?

[Ice]

t was not created by man however it was introduced into the UK by man in the 1950's in an attempt to reduce the numbers of wild rabbit

 

Youre wrong!! IT is a genetically modified virus made by man to kill rabbits!!! So its created.

 

and yes rabbit fleas do carry them and so do mossies. How did the rabbit fleas get 4 foot off the ground into the cage that i shot the rabbit in last night?

 

How do all the townies get thier rabbits killed by mixy? Mosquitoes!!!!!!! :blink:

 

If you look it up, it was actually created by a chemist in Llangefni, on Anglesey in the early 1950's due to the epedemic of rabits on anglesey, apparantly the virus was never meant or intended to spread to the mainland, the intension was that they became blind and consequently were killed as a result, either by passing cars, fox's etc etc...

[bob300w]

The other 5 were obviously myopic

 

Blimey...you swallowed a medical dictionary?

No....but I know a man who has..... Of course, I would swallow anyhing of Becky's....... :blink:

[bob300w]

t was not created by man however it was introduced into the UK by man in the 1950's in an attempt to reduce the numbers of wild rabbit

 

Youre wrong!! IT is a genetically modified virus made by man to kill rabbits!!! So its created.

 

and yes rabbit fleas do carry them and so do mossies. How did the rabbit fleas get 4 foot off the ground into the cage that i shot the rabbit in last night?

 

How do all the townies get thier rabbits killed by mixy? Mosquitoes!!!!!!! :blink:

 

If you look it up, it was actually created by a chemist in Llangefni, on Anglesey in the early 1950's due to the epedemic of rabits on anglesey, apparantly the virus was never meant or intended to spread to the mainland, the intension was that they became blind and consequently were killed as a result, either by passing cars, fox's etc etc...

Total rubbish, it was endemic in South America, and first recorded there in 1896, although it did not affect the local rabbits. It was imported into Australia deliberatly in the 1950's, then France, then here in 1953.

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/News-archiv...s/WTX024879.htm

Edited July 25, 2008 by bob300w

[Maiden22]

.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Maiden22

[Ice]

Appologies....

 

Interesting that, i had no idea that rabits were introduced into britain from north africa in the 12th century as a source of food and fur, you learn some new every day

[malkiserow]

Does anyone know what conditions encourage the flees to increase in numbers? is this linked to damp and or warm weather? or to the movement of rabbits to other warrens?

[Evil Elvis]

We get it every year here during harvest.there is a massive Warren near one of the lakes i fish, you cant shoot it but you will see 2-300 rabbits walking through it, come the end of August youll only see half that and corpses everywhere.

 

I reckon it becomes airborne when the crops are cut....no proof but why else? Unless the crops being cut makes the rabbits more stressed weakening thier immune system so that they virus proliferates and gets a hold on them?

 

A lot of stress is placed on the fleas, but the warren I mention is next to a 28 acre lake and has billions of mozzies....i dont think enough emphasis is placed on them!!! :blink:

[bob300w]

We get it every year here during harvest.there is a massive Warren near one of the lakes i fish, you cant shoot it but you will see 2-300 rabbits walking through it, come the end of August youll only see half that and corpses everywhere.

 

I reckon it becomes airborne when the crops are cut....no proof but why else? Unless the crops being cut makes the rabbits more stressed weakening thier immune system so that they virus proliferates and gets a hold on them?

 

A lot of stress is placed on the fleas, but the warren I mention is next to a 28 acre lake and has billions of mozzies....i dont think enough emphasis is placed on them!!! :blink:

Youve got me this time Baz, how can I tell if a flea is stressed or not?

[malkiserow]

We get it every year here during harvest.there is a massive Warren near one of the lakes i fish, you cant shoot it but you will see 2-300 rabbits walking through it, come the end of August youll only see half that and corpses everywhere.

 

I reckon it becomes airborne when the crops are cut....no proof but why else? Unless the crops being cut makes the rabbits more stressed weakening thier immune system so that they virus proliferates and gets a hold on them?

 

A lot of stress is placed on the fleas, but the warren I mention is next to a 28 acre lake and has billions of mozzies....i dont think enough emphasis is placed on them!!! :blink:

Youve got me this time Baz, how can I tell if a flea is stressed or not?

If you are not medically qualified, you cannot say. I would look to see if he has a stick note from his doctor .... hence the expression "Whats up Doc?"

[bob300w]

We get it every year here during harvest.there is a massive Warren near one of the lakes i fish, you cant shoot it but you will see 2-300 rabbits walking through it, come the end of August youll only see half that and corpses everywhere.

 

I reckon it becomes airborne when the crops are cut....no proof but why else? Unless the crops being cut makes the rabbits more stressed weakening thier immune system so that they virus proliferates and gets a hold on them?

 

A lot of stress is placed on the fleas, but the warren I mention is next to a 28 acre lake and has billions of mozzies....i dont think enough emphasis is placed on them!!! :blink:

Youve got me this time Baz, how can I tell if a flea is stressed or not?

If you are not medically qualified, you cannot say. I would look to see if he has a stick note from his doctor .... hence the expression "Whats up Doc?"

What, so this flea has a walking stick and stress? Not a Chinese flea is it?

[malkiserow]

We get it every year here during harvest.there is a massive Warren near one of the lakes i fish, you cant shoot it but you will see 2-300 rabbits walking through it, come the end of August youll only see half that and corpses everywhere.

 

I reckon it becomes airborne when the crops are cut....no proof but why else? Unless the crops being cut makes the rabbits more stressed weakening thier immune system so that they virus proliferates and gets a hold on them?

 

A lot of stress is placed on the fleas, but the warren I mention is next to a 28 acre lake and has billions of mozzies....i dont think enough emphasis is placed on them!!! :blink:

Youve got me this time Baz, how can I tell if a flea is stressed or not?

If you are not medically qualified, you cannot say. I would look to see if he has a stick note from his doctor .... hence the expression "Whats up Doc?"

What, so this flea has a walking stick and stress? Not a Chinese flea is it?

no that would be flied lice and just needs some cream rubbed in not a sick note

[Evil Elvis]

Just got back from the farm....dying rabbits everywhere................. :blink:

[bob300w]

Just got back from the farm....dying rabbits everywhere................. :blink:

Yep, it's depressing to see it, end of August/Sep it usually gets here, although there does not appear to be as many rabbits about as previous years. No black ones either, last year I shot about a dozen, all at different places, so not all from the same parents.

[MM]

not come across this yet, just the one manky scarred thing.

[Evil Elvis]

No black ones either, last year I shot about a dozen, all at different places, so not all from the same parents.

 

The loughton farm i shoot on has tons of black ones, and blue ones!!!

[Evilv]

I've heard its the fleas hiding in the warrens that carry mixy, thenpop out in the warm weather and infect the lot.

If the fleas that carry myxy are in the warrens, how is that any different in the summer to the winter? They will still infect the ones in the warren, who will spread it, as in summer, yes?

I have a sneaky suspicion, agreed also by some farmers, that the disease is re-released every year, it will be interesting to track it's progress on the forum, could this be made a sticky, so that we can follow the spread?

 

I shot two with what I think was myxi last week; one up in the Pennines and one down the Tyne Valley. Most of the others were unaffected so far.

 

Neither were the classic hugely swollen eyes and hopelessly blind though. One was an adult, but very thin with baldness around the eyes and the other was a young one with baldy eyes and a rather trusting nature, which sat out until I got within 50 yards while the rest had gone running as I got out of the car.

 

I think this might be the early stages of the disease. The full blown version I can recognise for sure like everyone else.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Just found this on the web. The last bit in bold is probably the most interesting bit. ->

 

Myxomatosis Information - 29/08/2007

 

WE HAVE HAD REPORTED CASES OF MYXOMATOSIS AFFECTING WILD AND DOMESTIC RABBITS ALL OVER BERKSHIRE, HAMPSHIRE, OXFORDSHIRE, SURREY AND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

 

 

WHAT IS MYXOMATOSIS?

 

Myxomatosis is a severe virus (The Myxoma Virus)that wiped out around 95% of the total population of wild rabbits in the UK, when it arrived in Britain 50 years ago. The disease was first observed as a mild illness causing swellings in the "cotton tail" rabbit (not native to europe). However, in the european rabbit, the effects are both deadly and devastating. It was deliberately introduced in europe by land owners wishing to control wild rabbits eating their crops and soon found its way to the UK. Since the 50's numbers in the wild population have slightly recovered. However, year on year, the disease continues to ravage wild rabbit colonies. What many people are not aware of is that domestic pet rabbits are also susceptible to the disease and huge numbers of deaths in pets are reported every year.

 

The number and severity of outbreaks varies over time: the myxomatosis virus is notorious for its ability to mutate from year to year and the background immunity developed by some of the wild rabbit population also varies. For example, in autumn 2000, southern areas of the UK (the south west, Hampshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire) experienced a severe outbreak of myxomatosis, thought to have been caused by a particularly virulent strain of the myxomatosis virus. This year, we have seen a HUGE rise in cases and the strain of myxomatosis appears to be very aggressive.

 

WHY IS THE OUTBREAK SO BAD THIS YEAR?

 

Largely because the virus is spread by biting insects such as mosquitos. Because we have had a very wet summer with flooding and the large areas of standing water that these insects use to breed on, we have seen an increase in the numbers of insects around to spread the disease. The warm, wet weather is also ideal conditions for the virus to multiply.

Edited July 28, 2008 by Evilv