Calicivirus Question

Hi guys!!

I might be being a bit neurotic, but I will still ask. I have four bunnies, for those that aren’t familiar with my posts

On Sunday, I will be going to the rspca to adopt a guinea pig for my brothers birthday (yes I know it sounds bad, but we have a guinea pig already, and he needs a friend. All are desexed and microchipped. It’s not an impulse purchase)
Anyways, this particular guinea pig has been there since the 20th of august. He came from a big hoarding place, with about 20 odd other rabbits. They aren’t sure if there were more guinea pigs there or not. The lady I spoke to over the phone explained that he came from this hoarding scenario, and said they had about 6-7 rabbits in their care from the same place that will be ready next Thursday.
She also said that some of the rabbits he was with were carrying calicivirus
That’s word for word what she said, so I’m not sure if she maybe meant something else or not, but assuming she was right in saying calicivirus, does it pose any risk to my bunnies in me going to go and get this guinea pig?? I’m not sure if the rabbits are at the rspca, or if they are in foster care or not. Could the guinea pig carry the calicivirus?? Her saying it has made me extremely worried, so I’m hoping someone will maybe be able to clarify

tl:dr Going to adopt a guinea pig; guinea pig was living with rabbits in hoarding situation; rspca lady said some rabbits were carrying calicivirus

I looked it up and it may be the rabbit hemorrhages virus from an article I found. I could be wrong, others on the forum will probably know for sure like JBun.

This was the article I found:
https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-b...t-my-rabbit-from-rabbit-haemorrhagic-disease/

Moonshadow said:

I looked it up and it may be the rabbit hemorrhages virus from an article I found. I could be wrong, others on the forum will probably know for sure like JBun.

This was the article I found:
https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-b...t-my-rabbit-from-rabbit-haemorrhagic-disease/

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Thank you for replying!!
Yes, I do know that calicivirus is the other name for RHDV, I was more asking if it will pose a risk to my bunnies, this guinea pig living with bunnies she said had it

Oh, well in that case I guess it would depend on a number of factors like if your bunnies are vaccinated.

A lot of areas in the western US have the virus and it can be transmitted by bugs, on clothes, etc. Unfortunately vaccines need to be imported from other countries so we’re told to keep bunnies inside, disinfect, etc. just to be safe. The good news is the states with confirmed cases are getting the vaccine.

As for your question, another member will probably give you a proper response. Sorry about that, I don’t know how much protections vaccines have~

Moonshadow said:

Oh, well in that case I guess it would depend on a number of factors like if your bunnies are vaccinated.

A lot of areas in the western US have the virus and it can be transmitted by bugs, on clothes, etc. Unfortunately vaccines need to be imported from other countries so we’re told to keep bunnies inside, disinfect, etc. just to be safe. The good news is the states with confirmed cases are getting the vaccine.

As for your question, another member will probably give you a proper response. Sorry about that, I don’t know how much protections vaccines have~

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My bunnies are due for their vaccination early October. We are in Australia, so we only have the cylap vaccination.

@Aspen’sbuns is listed as Australia, @Moonshadow so the US information may not apply there. I do, however, recommend making sure your rabbits have absolutely NO CONTACT with those Guinea Pigs. Because it could possibly be transferred. Plus make sure your buns are vaccinated.
Edit: I sent this before the thread updated because I was reading an article about this.

ArtistChibi said:

@Aspen’sbuns is listed as Australia, @Moonshadow so the US information may not apply there. I do, however, recommend making sure your rabbits have absolutely NO CONTACT with those Guinea Pigs. Because it could possibly be transferred. Plus make sure your buns are vaccinated.
Edit: I sent this before the thread updated because I was reading an article about this.

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My bunnies won’t be having any contact with this guinea pig at all. He will be travelling in my car home though. I was more asking if it’s a risk me going to go pick him up, knowing he was with bunnies that the RSPCA lady said were carrying calicivirus

Does anyone else please have any comments or thoughts about wether this is risky or not?

If it had been RHD I would be rather surprised there was anything left to be considered a hoarding situation, and even more that only some rabbits potentially carry the virus.

I would call and ask again if there is a misunderstanding, if it really is RHD I, personally, would stay clear of that facility and everything that was there. I'm a bit paranoid in that regard, in the first year with rabbits I lost 14 out of 15 due to Myxo...

I have no clue if a guinea pig can be a vector.

The RSPCA in Australia has the following information on their website:
https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-b...t-my-rabbit-from-rabbit-haemorrhagic-disease/Fleas are an important vector, so you would need to de-flea all your animals, but the virus can also be spread by flies and contact.
It's a tricky one. I would ask a couple of vets.

If any of the rabbits from that hoarding situation had RHVD, it would have most likely been fatal to any rabbit that had contact. It's rare for a rabbit to survive the disease. Do you know if the rabbits actually passed away, or were they implying the rabbits were exposed to it but still alive?

The virus can survive for months in the environment, so if those guinea pigs actually were around infected rabbits, even though they can't be affected by it themselves, I would be worried about them somehow carrying and passing the virus to a rabbit in other ways.

JBun said:

If any of the rabbits from that hoarding situation had RHVD, it would have most likely been fatal to any rabbit that had contact. It's rare for a rabbit to survive the disease. Do you know if the rabbits actually passed away, or were they implying the rabbits were exposed to it but still alive?

The virus can survive for months in the environment, so if those guinea pigs actually were around infected rabbits, even though they can't be affected by it themselves, I would be worried about them somehow carrying and passing the virus to a rabbit in other ways.

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Hi everyone,
Thank you all so much for responding, I’ve only just seen all of these now!
The day I was supposed to get the guinea pig, the rspca rung in the morning (as I was trying to ring them) and said they had been advised by the main rspca (this one the guinea pig was at is just a small regional shelter) to not rehome this guinea pig to a home with any other small animals.
All the rabbits that were showing symptoms passed away. They were assessed by a vet, and they said that it was likely RHDV. They didn’t test or anything, but that’s what they guessed it was.

Either way, I had decided from this thread that I was not going to get the guinea pig, before they rung me.
Thank you all so much for responding