A review of non-specific enteritis in the rabbit

The earliest cases of the enteritis complex in the United States were recorded in Los Angeles in 1929 (Hurt, 1949). Grieder (1936) found that 55·0% of his rabbits died of coccidiosis compared with 11·7 % which died of enteritis. Seidel (1936) lost 11·2 % of young rabbits and 10·2 % of adults as a result of enteritis. Bos (1941) had a 74,0 %mortality from coccidiosis compared with a 10,0% mortality from enteritis. Gordon (1943) and Hare & Orr (1943) lost more rabbits from coccidiosis than from the enteritis complex. With the emergence of more effective coccidiostats the position has been reversed and now more rabbits are lost as a result of the enteritis complex. Paterson (1956) found that losses from enteric disease was equal to the losses from all other conditions. Lund (1951) found the enteritis complex accounted for 49,4 % of all deaths in a series of 3210 autopsies. Greenham (1962) lost 61·2 % of rabbits under 8 weeks old from the enteritis complex while Harriss (1961) suffered a 16'6% loss from similar diseases. In contrast, Basse (1963)