Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Domestic rabbits and tularemia?

Viewing 4 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • FluffyBunny
      Participant
      1263 posts Send Private Message

        Hi! I haven’t been on this forum in a long time, but I’m finding very little info on this, so this seemed like a good place to ask…

        Does anyone know whether or not domestic rabbits can get tularemia? It’s a disease that affects wild rabbits and can also infect humans. There’s an outbreak of it among the wild cottontails around here, and apparently a lot of bunnies are dying. Apparently, it can be spread by insects, or by contact with a dead animal. I’ve also read that breathing in dust or water that’s been contaminated can cause infection. I’m obviously very worried about my bunnies. Should I take any extra precautions? Can they catch it in the first place?


      • Tessie
        Participant
        1231 posts Send Private Message

          Did a quick google and I’ve come up with conflicting information!
          The house rabbit society says it’s fine: http://www.rabbit.org/health/exotic-diseases.html
          But other things say it can happen… most seem to say its rare.

          Maybe someone else will know!


        • Sarita
          Participant
          18851 posts Send Private Message

            If you have an indoor rabbit I don’t think you need to worry.


          • FluffyBunny
            Participant
            1263 posts Send Private Message

              I assume if it was easy for house rabbits to catch, there would be more info about it…

              I don’t need to worry about tracking it in on shoes, or mosquitoes biting the bunnies, etc? Those are my main concerns. Yes, they’re 100% house bunnies.


            • Bam
              Moderator
              16838 posts Send Private Message

                Tularemia is spread by mosquitoes above all but can also spread by tracking dust in on shoes.(plus by handling infected meat and/or eating it rare but I guess you wouldn’t be doing that). Drinking infected water may also be a route of contagion. It can infect lots of animals including cats and humans and reptiles and even spiders, but the most susceptible to the disease are your wild cottontail rabbits (not the same species as domestic rabbits) and hares (lepus species) I think you call them Jack rabbits but they aren’t actually rabbits, they don’t have the same nr of chromosomes + small rodents like mice and fieldmice. It is highly contagious.

                Infected (wild) animals often die from septiscemia. The causative agent is a bacteria (francisella tularensis) so it can be cured with antibiotics. If you yourself contract it it starts with a boil where the mosquito stung you a couple of days earlier. Then near-by lymph-nodes get affected and fever, headache and other symtoms arise. You should absolutely seek medical attention if you get a boil after a mosquito-bite and take care to mention the tularemia outbreak in your area.

                I got this from the Swedish National Veterinary Medicine something, which is an offical and reliable source. The incidence of tularemia in humans is rising in Sweden (I live in Sweden). It was almost unheard of 15 years ago except in hunters who’d handled meat from infected hares. 

                The link is in Swedish. http://www.sva.se/sv/Djurhalsa1/Vilda-djur/Viltsjukdomar/Harpest/

            Viewing 4 reply threads
            • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

            Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Domestic rabbits and tularemia?