Balgownie Animal Hospital veterinarian Ben Holding advised rabbit owners to immunise their bunnies against the virus as National Parks and Wildlife Service plans to release it in the Sutherland Shire.

"It's a pretty nasty death, it kills 90 per cent of domestic rabbits and it's sudden onset so most are found dead in their cage," he said

Domestic rabbits contract the virus through mosquito bites and other contamination with no treatment available once the virus has set in.

While Wollongong City Council has not released calicivirus this year, the disease remains on the list of rabbit control methods in council's pest management programs.

Heather Stanger and Dylan Felton vaccinated their bunnies after seeing warnings on Facebook from fellow rabbit owners.

"They're indoor rabbits but they need to be vaccinated once a year," Heather said

"It was about $100 to get both of them done and we have to get it every year because councils just keep releasing it."

Calicivirus was developed after the wild rabbit population became resistant to myxomatosis after heavy use from the 1950s to the 1990s.

A new, more infectious strain of calicivirus "K5" was identified this year and unlike myxomatosis a vaccine has been made available. According to Mr Holding, although the virus poses a threat to domestic rabbits it remains one of the most humane and cost effective ways to control the rabbit population.

"Wild rabbits threaten native wildlife and livestock so unfortunately the population has to be controlled," he said

"The most humane way would be to set traps and euthanise by hand but traps would have to be set every hundred metres and there's not enough staff, but this disease kills fairly rapidly so they're not in pain for weeks."