Agricultural History Review, Volume 57 Part 1 (2009), p. 143

This informative study reviews the history of Myxomatosis, a highly infectious sub-cutaneous viral pox disease specific to the rabbit, and unparalleled in the annals of agrarian history. This was only the second animal virus identified after Foot and Mouth disease. Following the introduction of Myxomatosis to Britain in September 1953 at Bough Beech, near Edenbridge in Kent, mortality rates in excess of 99 per cent were recorded.

The text starts with a critique of the pre-Bough Beech period, outlining the history of the disease before investigating various methods which have been used to control the rabbit, as well as considering changes in the legal status of the species. These introductory sections are possibly the least satisfactory parts of what is otherwise a very impressive book. There are a number of issues which might have merited more detailed consideration, for example, the reasons for the long term increase in the rabbit population. Here we may identify the consequences of declining game preservation and rabbit trapping, which both contributed to reducing the rabbit’s natural predators. Similarly the work of the internationally renowned, Oxford-based Bureau of Animal Populations which, during the 1930s and Second World War period, had undertaken extensive research into methods of rabbit control, merits a more evaluative appraisal.

In the pre-Myxomatosis era the rabbit population was determined by a number of interrelated factors including the demand for rabbits as a source of meat, and the perceived effect of the damage caused by the species. As the text illustrates, quantifying the magnitude of the damage was problematic, resulting in considerable variations in the estimates, and this is again worthy of more detailed attention in the future.

The main focus of the text, the history, transmission and effects of Myxomatosis, are analysed in a thorough and persuasive way. It is in these sections that the author really begins to show his extensive knowledge of the subject. The chapter dealing with the ‘Narrative of the Disease’ is particularly impressive. It provides a comprehensive review of the explanations for the influx of the disease from France and its subsequent spread across the country. The book makes a valuable contribution to enhancing our understanding of Myxomatosis and, in particular, addresses a number of key questions about how the disease initially reached Britain, and the controversy surrounding the dissemination of the disease. As the author acknowledges, many of these issues remain shrouded in mystery. Given the paucity of reliable primary sources and the multitude of unsubstantiated allegations which have obfuscated these hotly debated issues, the author should be congratulated for his impressive summary of the existing evidence. A minor reservation is that in places it reads more like a synopsis of the explanations which have been previously suggested, rather than a synthesis of the author’s own views. Such a criticism is, however, of minor significance given the vast amount of literature which has already been produced the subject.

The author should be congratulated for the detailed analysis he provides of the Myxomatosis Advisory Committee and, in particular, the debates which took place about the ethics of the deliberate transmission of the disease. I would, however, take issue with the author’s claim that the extinction of the rabbit by deploying virulent strains of Myxomatosis strategically to wipe out the surviving colonies of rabbits was ever a feasible option. Technical and logistical constraints would have prevented the total destruction of the ubiquitous rabbit.

The chapter dealing with ‘Agriculture and the Environment’ draws attention to the effects of Myxomatosis on agricultural output, an issue which has been largely ignored by most agricultural historians. While his evidence about the effects of the decline in the rabbit population on productivity is circumstantial rather than conclusive, this issue too merits further research. The chapter also provides a perceptive critique of the multi-faceted consequences of the reduction in the rabbit population.

Overall this is an impressive account of the history of the most devastating animal disease ever reported. Extensive endnotes bear witness to the controversial nature of the incidence and transmission of the disease. It is an account which will provide an invaluable source not only for rural historians and scholars from a wide variety of disciplines including politics, biology and veterinary science, but also for those with a general interest in the countryside. In order to ensure more effective dissemination to a wider readership, a paperback copy of the text is a desiderata.