Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus serotype 2 (RHDV2), the cause of a highly contagious and fatal lagomorph disease, rapidly spread through the western United States and Mexico. In response, an ad hoc interagency/zoo/academia/non-profit team implemented emergency conservation actions to protect California’s Central Valley endemic, endangered riparian brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani riparius, RBR) from RHDV2. RBRs have lost over 90% of historic habitat, and remnant habitat is fragmented and prone to flooding and wildfire. The team first implemented a vaccine safety trial by administering Filavac VHD K C+V® vaccine (Filavie, France) to 19 wild RBRs captured and temporarily held in captivity. Rabbits were monitored for adverse effects and serum collected prior to, and at 7-10-, 14-20-, and 60-days post-vaccination for antibody response determination. No adverse vaccine effects were documented; therefore a large-scale effort to reduce extinction risk by vaccinating ~15% of the estimated wild population began in September 2020. Population estimation via remote camera transects coupled with predictive modeling informed vaccination goals. To date, 674 RBRs have been vaccinated at least once. In Spring 2022, RHDV2 deaths were confirmed in unvaccinated RBRs and sympatric desert cottontails (Sylvilagus audubonii). Vaccination, disease surveillance and population monitoring are continuing to detect possible disease-related population change.

Deana is a senior wildlife veterinarian focused on Nongame, Threatened and Endangered Species at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and a Faculty Affiliate at UC Davis. She received a Bachelors in Wildlife Conservation Biology, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and Masters and PhD in epidemiology from UC Davis. Her dissertation work focused on infectious disease and reproduction threats to endangered island foxes. Deana has worked on a variety of wildlife conservation and ecosystem health projects, both nationally and internationally, ranging from infectious disease in carnivores to impacts of bovine tuberculosis and water scarcity on wildlife, livestock and people in Tanzania. Her interests are emerging wildlife disease surveillance, endangered species conservation, and one health issues at the wildlife-domestic animal-human interface.