Category: Research Results

Vaccination for pet rabbits is essential As in previous years, in 2019 the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre and the Veterinary Faculty at Utrecht University receives reports of dead rabbits all year round. This number increased in August and September.

The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) was the ‘focus species’ of DWHC in 2018, which means that the DWHC aims to increase the number of submissions of roe deer in order to shed light on the most common diseases in this species. In 2018 in total 34 roe deer were submitted to the DWHC for post-mortem investigation. The

DWHC has now confirmed the presence of the ranavirus at two locations in the province of Drenthe, at two locations in the province of Overijssel and at a location in the province of North-Holland. This is the first identified case of the virus in the province of North Holland. Outbreaks of the ranavirus in the

In May 2019 several dead Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were found in an old underwater sandpit situated in Haaren, province of North-Brabant. In previous years  only one or two dead carp were found in  this time of year, but this year more common carp were found dead over a short periode of time.

April 2019 the working group Badgers in Brabant reported the finding of a dead badger to the DWHC. The animal which seemed to have been in very poor condition was found in the city of Oss, the Province of North Brabant. It was  subsequently  collected to investigate the cause of death.

Status 6 april 2020, conclusion
In total eight wild boars were submitted for post-mortem investigation. Six of them were found dead, two were shot because of their aberrant behaviour.
The cause of death of five of the six examined wild boar found dead, is still unclear. One died of a lung condition

The DWHC received a dead white stork (Ciconia ciconia) on June 18th 2019 to investigate the cause of death. The animal was collected from the municipality of Hilvarenbeek, province of Noord-Brabant.

In the beginning of May 2019, a roe deer (doe) carrying fawns considered to be close to birth, was found dead in Overijssel. The doe had no visible injuries and was collected by the DWHC for examination.

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.

Background information At the end of January 2019, a crouching white stork was found, lying on the grounds of a farm in the province of Utrecht. The bird was very calm and could easily be approached. The weakened animal was placed in the scullery to recover. Although after a while the white stork seemed to get