Rabbits Infest Countryside, myxomatosis

Rabbits Infest French Countryside

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Rabbits are taking over the French countryside

They’re cute, fuzzy, and breed like – well, rabbits. And they’re taking over the French countryside.

Rabbit is a dish that regularly appears on French menus, especially in the countryside. But an explosion in the number of wild rabbits has caused damage to many farmers’ crops. And it’s created tension with hunters who have been taken to court, accused of failing to control them. It’s thought the rabbit population is almost as high as it was in the 1950s before myxomatosis was introduced to control the numbers. There are complaints that the hunting season is not long enough and the authorities have been blamed for not taking the problem seriously enough.

Report: Alasdair Sanford

myxomatosis (mĭk-sō'mə-tō'sĭs)

n.

1. A condition characterized by the growth of many myxomas.
2. A highly infectious, usually fatal disease of rabbits that is caused by a pox virus and is characterized by many skin tumors similar to myxomas.

myx・o・ma・to・sis

━━ n. 【医】（多発性）粘液腫症.