Tale of a bad hare day
Jay Maeder
US News & World Report
September 15, 1997

It's a staple of countless cheesy science-fiction flicks: Scientists
experiment with lethal toxic Thing, shudder, decide Thing is too dangerous
to muck with, throw it back in test tube, seal it up in vault. Thing
stirs. Thing escapes from laboratory, runs wild, dooms millions. This is
exactly what happened in Australia two years ago, when rabbit calcivirus
disease got free of its keepers and started loosing death all along the
bunny trail. Re-released last fall under governmental controls, RCD is
expected to wipe out 200 million Australian rabbits, to the very great
satisfaction of rabbit-plagued farmers.

But RCD remains banned in New Zealand, where there is also a large rabbit
overrun. Three weeks ago the virus was discovered on several South Island
farms, smuggled in across the Tasman Sea in violation of national
biosecurity laws. As local farmers cheerfully covered their fields with 
the stuff--and as a Ministry of Agriculture man was accused of 
collaboration--horrifed officials raced to impose quarantines. Last week
they admitted that eradication of the virus is impossible and began 
discussing possible containment. Meanwhile, little is known about RCD, and
a Ministry of Health spokesman quaked that humans could be at risk as 
well: "You can't say anything is safe."