Talk:Myxomatosis

the UK Land Registry conducted a survey of 16,000 hectares of its land
The UK Land Registry doesn't have land to call 'its' own (although it may possibly own some office buildings). It REGISTERS land: the clue is in the name. Is that sentence meant to say that it's 'UK land' aka 'the UK' one is talking about? Then it should say so in intelligible English. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.68.94.86 (talk) 16:57, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease
I am looking for some reviews for the article rabbit haemorrhagic disease. Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lisakauth (talk • contribs) 17:21, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Au bey it infects cats too.my rabbit died of this who ever made this disease is horrible.


 * According to and, myxomatosis does not infect cats, although cats may carry fleas which carry the virus. -- Tim Starling 07:50, Sep 8, 2004 (UTC)

Watership Down
Is this the "White Blindness" that the rabbits are so worried about in the Watership Down books? --UsaSatsui 09:34, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Four years may be a bit of a long wait for a reply... but yes, it is. Loganberry (Talk) 19:02, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Effects on survivors?
The article says that 35% of infected rabbits in Europe now survive. What happens to those? Are they likely to survive in the longer term, or are the effects of the disease such that they are unlikely to avoid predators etc? Some info on this would be useful. 86.132.139.89 (talk) 20:38, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

CATLUM?
Why does the first full paragraph in this article begin with the word CATLUM in capitals. I don't know what this means or why it might be there, surely many other lay people won't either? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kevoreilly (talk • contribs) 12:54, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

OK well I have searched and found no answer, so I'm gonna remove this strange word. Perhaps it was just defacing... 213.121.187.247 (talk) 15:17, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Dubious date
The article states "First observed in Uruguay in the late 1800s [later in the article this is specified as 1896], it was introduced illegally into Egypt in 1842..." Surely the Egyptian date is a typo for 1942, or some other year after it was in fact discovered? Phil wink (talk) 15:27, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Would love these sections added
Controversy- Surely a type of mass animal genocide was controversial. Any insight into this especially at the given years (pre-PETA) days etc.

Effect on Humans- any cases of spread to humans

Radiohead song named after the disease- I find this interesting as this could have many brilliant meanings. From animal rights to governments feeling they have the right to commit genocide on any living thing from rabbits to humans. The haunting lyrics of the song are "I got myxomatosis" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.49.114.48 (talk) 11:44, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Mortality contradiction
Part of the tagged section says that death usually occurs in 48 hours. Right after that we get a sentence indicating that indicates it occurs within 14 days. Which is it? Midhart90 (talk) 13:55, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Fixed. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 15:49, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

Deletion of unreferenced info by "Mark Marathon"
Mark Marathon deleted this sentence: "The Spanish Imperial Eagle and the Iberian Lynx, among others, are now almost extinct because the decline of the rabbit population, which is about 80% of their diets, has caused mass starvation." because it was unreferenced. I found a ref for the info about the Spanish Imperial Eagle at least: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3534. His edit also left this sentence hanging: "The disease has wider consequences apart from the death of rabbits", therefore it is now undone. This ref needs to be added but I have never done that before. Can somebody Else do it? Thanks Ineverheardofhim (talk) 11:42, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
 * 1) That article doesn't mention Myxomatosis. It does refer Viral Haemorrhagic Disease, aka Rabbit Calicivorus. But that is a completely different disease.
 * 2) Even WRT calicivirus, the article never suggests that Eagles "are now almost extinct because the decline of the rabbit population" caused by the disease. It says that eagles have reduced breeding success due to the disease, and notes that no populations at all are at risk of extinction from any cause.

So I've once more reverted the material pending a reference. Mark Marathon (talk) 22:19, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Is it man made?
Where did the virus come from? Is it a natural virus or was it man made? This is not clearly stated in the article. Malcolmmwa (talk) 13:50, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

I read that it was introduced in different regions to control rabbit populations (mainly in Australia), and that it was first observed in a laboratory, but I cannot tell whether the virus already existed and was just spread to new places (including places where it had never occured and the rabbits had no natural immunity) or if the disease was completely created by humans. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Malcolmmwa (talk • contribs) 13:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120902040440/http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1901334/myxomatosis-statement.pdf to http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1901334/myxomatosis-statement.pdf

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Assessment comment
Substituted at 00:43, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Updating veterinary information in page
Hello! I am a rabbit vet working on behalf of WikiProject Veterinary Medicine to improve the medical information on this page. I am knowledgeable on the subject matter but entirely new to Wikipedia editing. I apologize in advance for my clumsiness. Please let me know if I am making mistakes or gaffs. Thank you, Rabbit Vet (talk) 09:17, 17 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a good start to me! Happy editing! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 13:15, 17 July 2019 (UTC)


 * I would like to add clarification on the two strains of myxoma virus, the South American strain (this is the one that was released in Australia and Europe) and the Californian strain. There is no information currently on this page about Californian myxoma virus. This virus occurs in Baja Mexico, western coastal United States, and southwestern coastal Canada. It is more virulent and has a different presentation than the South American strain. Rabbit Vet (talk) 03:13, 18 July 2019 (UTC). I will also be adding separate sections on Europe and Australia, as the situations in these two locations differ from a medical standpoint. Rabbit Vet (talk) 15:41, 18 July 2019 (UTC)


 * This page is currently receiving a "C" rating, i.e. it is considered a poor source of veterinary information. I will be working hard to correct this, and want to change our rating to GA. To do this changes will necessarily be needed. I will (mostly) not be removing content, but will be adding in new pertinent information, clarifying statements, adding references, and in some cases moving content from one section to another. I will also be adding information which may seem obvious but is placed there to counteract common misconceptions about myxomatosis that pervade the internet (such as that it is a man made virus). So far my efforts have been hampered by editors who are quickly removing what I add, or moving it and placing it in inappropriate locations. I would appreciate if people would not do this. I have a whole plan in mind and can't achieve it if things keep moving and disappearing. If you disagree with me or want to discuss things please let us have the discussion here. If this is a pet project of yours that you haven't yet got around to, and you would rather be the one to rewrite and improve this page, please let me know. Thank you! Rabbit Vet (talk) 15:41, 18 July 2019 (UTC)


 * I apologize for the wording above, I did not mean to violate Wikipedia protocols. I am new to Wikipedia editing, and did not realize that what was happening to my input was the result of someone's disruptive (rather than well-intentioned) editing. I would like to restate the above to say that I am currently working hard on this article and appreciate all your help! :-) Rabbit Vet (talk) 13:49, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

Poor placement or choice of photo
This disturbing image is the first thing you see when the article page loads. It needs to be a thumbnail that you can click on, and it needs to not be the first thing that a person sees when they open the page. Otherwise, a different photo should be used, or the photo should be placed farther down in the article. I didn't even click on this page on purpose, and suddenly I got this really gross picture that is very disturbing to me. Goddesseverywhere (talk) 23:33, 30 March 2020 (UTC)


 * The use of images is often subjective, one persons disturbing can be anothers WP:NOTCENSORED/WP:DISC. IMO, the image is a fitting WP:LEADIMAGE for this topic. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:15, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * It is appropriate for the subject of the article. (For a similar discussion and resolution see Talk:Smallpox). Graham Beards (talk) 09:01, 31 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi Goddesseverywhere! I am a veterinarian and responsible for the photograph you dislike. This is a photograph taken of a rabbit with myxomatosis; it is typical of the disease, and not an exaggerated case. The main goal of this article is to educate veterinarians and rabbit owners what myxomatosis looks like. I cannot do this without photographs. As you note you did not intentionally click into this page, and are not interested in this topic. I need to keep the page informative and illustrative for those of us who are. Rabbit Vet (talk) 15:51, 31 March 2020 (UTC)


 * While I agree that the image should stay where it is, per WP:Readers first it is possible that you should rethink who the article is for a little. ...Then again, you got the GA, so it's probaly not anything to worry too much about. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 16:35, 31 March 2020 (UTC)


 * It should stay per WP:NOTCENSORED. --awkwafaba (📥) 18:43, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

Cover photo
This article is about the disease myxomatosis, not the virus. The cover photo should be of an infected wild rabbit. Sciencia58 (talk) 19:49, 5 November 2021 (UTC)

‘In Media’ instead of ‘In Fiction’
I don’t know how make these updates. These should be added to the Watership Down reference.

Popular UK rock band Radiohead has a song called Myxomatosis from their 2003 release Hail to the Thief.

Douglas Adams mentions Myxomatosis in his 1979 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Jeremiah042 (talk) 13:07, 9 September 2022 (UTC)


 * @Jeremiah042 If necessary, we can call it "In popular culture" (all references in this article are "media"), but existing is not enough. What is needed for inclusion, is a decent source (not blog, wiki, social media etc etc) who noticed these works mentioned myxomatosis and bothered to write something about it, see the Watership Down cite in the article for comparison. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 13:20, 9 September 2022 (UTC)