No. Dogs cannot get myxomatosis. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, myxomatosis causes illness only in rabbits, and people and other animals do not catch it.
Myxomatosis is a viral disease. In rabbits, illness comes on quickly and can include fever, loss of appetite, and swelling of the nose, eyelids, lips, ears, or genital area, and death may follow within days or even hours. The virus spreads from rabbit to rabbit through the bites of bloodsucking insects such as mosquitoes, fleas, black flies, and ticks, and through direct contact or surfaces contaminated by an infected rabbit. It occurs naturally in wild rabbits in California, which are generally more resistant to it. In 1950 the virus was deliberately released in Australia to control wild rabbits; about 90% of infected rabbits died at first, but over several years the death rate fell to roughly 25%.
In a home with both a dog and a pet rabbit, the risk is to the rabbit. Health officials advise protecting rabbits from biting insects, keeping them indoors where possible, and isolating any sick rabbit.
Source: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Veterinary Public Health, “Myxomatosis”
Image: Oryctolagus cuniculus ssp. cuniculus, Jan Ebr, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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