Rabbits are famous – notorious, perhaps – for their breeding ability. In rabbits, unusually, ovulation is triggered by mating. A native of North Africa and the Mediterranean region, they were brought to the UK in the 12th century, and were bred for their fur and as food.

Although originally kept in special enclosures, or warrens, they eventually established wild populations, becoming a common part of the British landscape. They kept a relatively low profile until the early years of the 20th century, when their numbers rocketed, probably because of changes to agricultural practices.

Soon they became a serious pest, and farmers stepped up efforts to exterminate them. They had little success – until the arrival of myxomatosis.

Myxomatosis is caused by a virus first seen in laboratory rabbits in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1896. It was tolerated by South American strains of rabbit, but was almost invariably lethal to their European cousins.

By 1919 it had been identified as a potential solution to the rabbit problem. After experiments and trials in Britain and Australia, the disease became established to devastating effect in Australia in 1950–51.

In mid-1952 it was deliberately introduced into France by a retired physician who occupied a rabbit-infested estate near Paris. In autumn 1953 it arrived in Britain, initially near the town of Edenbridge in Kent. At first Ministry of Agriculture officials tried to contain it. Once this proved impossible it was allowed to run its course; before long perhaps 99 per cent of Britain’s wild rabbits were dead.

As the disease spread, the Government saw an opportunity to eliminate a creature long considered a menace to agriculture and woodland. Of course, rabbits were not exterminated, and eventually the development of resistance and changes to the virus established an equilibrium. But the current population is probably still half what it was in pre-myxomatosis days.

The history of myxomatosis, either as an Australian or global phenomenon, has been well studied, including in a recent major book by Fenner and Fantini. Britain’s experience, by contrast, has been neglected. And there are many questions to be answered.

Did myxomatosis reach the UK by design, individual or governmental, or accident? No previous study has alleged government involvement, but circumstantial evidence indicates that the disease may have been introduced with official blessing.

How was myxomatosis spread within the UK? The rabbit flea was crucial but some farmers spread the disease deliberately. The Pests Act of 1954 criminalised intentional transmission, but few prosecutions ensued. Does lack of formal sanctioning reflect the difficulty of detecting offences or official sympathy with offenders?

The mass extermination of a mammal by viral means raised questions for different groups. Many found the disease appalling for humanitarian and ethical reasons. Farmers and foresters generally welcomed it on economic grounds, while some animal welfare champions considered it preferable to spring-loaded gin traps. Many hunters deplored the disease because it eliminated their quarry.

What of public opinion? The public, reared on cultural traditions that portrayed the rabbit sympathetically, supposedly influenced government policy on myxomatosis. Though difficult to document and quantify, public opinion can be appraised through newspaper, magazine and broadcast sources.

Finally, how does the history of myxomatosis in Britain contribute to our understanding of other animal disease crises of recent years? During the BSE outbreak and with the emergence of avian influenza in the Far East, concerns have been raised about disease organisms jumping the species barrier. In the early phase of the myxomatosis outbreak, some feared that the disease might affect humans. Was such concern justified and how did government respond?

By Peter Bartrip

Peter Bartrip received a Wellcome Trust Research Leave Award in the history of medicine. He is based at the University of Northampton.

The lead picture is of the myxomatosis virus, photo credit: D Gregory/D Marshall, MPL.