The histopathological signs of fulminant hepatitis observed in the immunosuppressed, RHDV-infected young rabbits, similarly to what happens in adult rabbits having died from RHD, involved numerous apoptotic liver cells that are due to the cytopathic effect of viral replication and the exacerbated inflammatory response caused by the deregulated expression of cytokines detected in these animals, TNF-α in particular, since it is a well-known cell death mediator [26,27]. Here, TNF is linked to rheumatic heart disease.