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The Biology of the Laboratory Rabbit is a compendium of papers that discusses the use of the rabbit as an experimental substrate in the scientific process. The collection describes normative biology, research utilization, and rabbit disease. These papers emphasize naturally occurring diseases which affect the value of the rabbit as a research tool. Some papers describe these effects and their impact for investigators engaged in laboratory experimental work on animal medicine. Other papers tackle the value of certain rabbit diseases as models of considerable interest in comparative medicine. Several papers discuss bacterial diseases, viral diseases, protozoal diseases, arthropod parasites, helminth parasites, neoplastic diseases, inherited diseases, nutritional diseases, metabolic, traumatic, mycotic, and miscellaneous diseases of the rabbit. One paper describes a number of diseases that man can acquire from domestic and laboratory rabbits. These include tularemia (which is endemic in wild rabbits and hares), plague (transmitted by fleas), listeriosis (rare in laboratory rabbit colonies), salmonellosis (from rabbit feces), and Pasteurella multocida (common in laboratory and domestic rabbits). The paper notes that laboratory and domestic rabbits are not a major health hazard. The compendium can benefit veterinarians, the medically-oriented investigator, the biologist, the medical and chemical researcher, and others whose work involve laboratory animal care.

After nearly 20 years, the publication of this Second Edition of The Biology of the Laboratory Rabbit attests to its popularity within the scientific community as well as to the need to update an expanding database on the rabbit as a major species in laboratory investigation. The principal aim of this text is to provide a comprehensive and authoritative source of scientifically based information on a major laboratory animal species. The text continues to emphasize the normal biology as well as diseases of the European (domestic) rabbit, Orytolagus cuniculus, especially the New Zealand White breed, with occasional reference to other rabbit species (Sylvilagus sp.) and hares (Lepus sp.). New topics have been added to this second edition in response to changing trends in biomedical research and product testing as well as to suggestions from readers.New chapters included on: - Anesthesia and analgesia - Models in infectious disease research - Models in ophthalmology and vision research - Polyclonal antibody production - Toxicity and safety testing - Drug doses and clinical reference data