In October and the first weeks of November 2019, ten hares were submitted to DWHC for post-mortem examination. In three hares tularaemia (rabbit fever) has been diagnosed.

In September 2019, tularaemia was again confirmed in a hare on the territory of the Wildlife Management Unit ‘Kromme Rijn’ in the province of Utrecht. A few hares died in this area in previous years due to tularaemia.

Tularaemia re-surfaced in a hare in the same area in the province of Overijssel, where in October 2018 two of the four examined dead hares were diagnosed with this disease.

Tularemia in hares Tularemia has been identified in a hare from the Dutch province of Gelderland that was submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) in June 2015 for post-mortem exam. Since 2011, all dead hares received by the DWHC are routinely tested by the Central Veterinary Institute for the bacteria

In mid-April another hare from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum, submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam, tested positive for tularemia. This brings the total number of tularemia-positive hares in 2015 to 11, nine of which are from this area, the other two from a

In the last few weeks vets, farmers and hunters in central Friesland have reported a high rate of death among wild hares in the area. To date, the bacterial disease tularemia, caused by Francisella tularensis, has been associated with the death of eight hares from the area surrounding the Friesian town of Akkrum.

Friesland is the fifth province in which tularemia has been found in hares. Two hares from the centre of the province were submitted to the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) for post-mortem exam. Tularemia was initially suspected based on lesions seen in the liver and was later confirmed by molecular tests

This page provides general information about this condition. Text can be revealed by clicking on the green headers. Links to press releases, results from DWHC investigations as well as other useful documents and relevant literature available on the DWHC website can be found at the bottom of the page.