I wonder the same thing. I would like to start volunteering at the SPCA but am very concerned about that too. When I had Olivia living at Mom’s and I feared she had pasteurella I did the same as you, washed all the clothes right away and I showered and washed my hair. I’d rather be overcautious than worry. I’m very careful when I handle Henri at the barn as well because I think he has pasteurella too.

It is not a bad idea to have a vet look at the bunny first before you bring it into your home- or if that is not possible you can keep the bunny in a cage in a separate area of your house (prefereably uncarpeted for easier cleaning) before the vet appt.

Before I brought Penny home I had the vet look at her (even though she looked completely healthy) to make sure that she did not have any fleas or mites.  And even though we found no evidence of fleas, the vet recommended that if I wanted to be SURE I was not bringing fleas home that I could treat with a dose of Capstar.  Capstar is an oral pill that starts working with 1/2 hour to kill adult fleas and lasts for 24 hours.  It is safe to use for rabbits and only cost me about $4 and works faster than Revolution (the only bunny safe flea stuff that we have at my vet clinic)- although it does not last as long (24 hours vs a month) it was perfect for what I wanted it to do.

If you are fostering a bunny in your house and have them separate- I would recommend keeping everything else separate that is around the rabbits like a pellet container, food container, etc.  And you can clean with an approved professional disinfecting products designed for use around animals or use a light bleach solution (being careful to rinse well).  Vinegar would not be enough by itself to disinfect even though it works well at removing visible waste. 

And even though I had Penny checked out by a vet- I did still take a risk by introducing her to Cotton to start bonding.  A visual exam will not reveal any/all healthy problems (diseases/virus/bactera) if there are no symptoms.  So even if the bunny looks healthy and you are NOT planning on keeping the bunny it would be a good idea to keep them separate and disinfect items, and do not allow items from the foster bunny to come into contact with your bunny.

I work around myxi virus all the time so this is what I do:
-none of my bags go near the bunnies, just in case
-I strip off and put the clothes in the washing machine (we have our own laundry tho)
-shoes stay outside
-I shower
-After the shower I wash my hands, under my finger nails and arms very thoroughly because I’m paranoid and think that the soap becomes too diluted in the shower to really get to the problem areas.

I’m bunny-sitting soon, I’ll be looking at ways to keep the bunnies separate in my TINY apartment!

I’ll be doing a lot of washing clothes soon now too. I convinced my stable’s owner to put Henri in the heated lounge for the winter and she did, very much against her husband’s “no animals in the lounge rule” on the condition that I would clean his cage regularly. So I will be taking precautions. He’s never shown signs of pasteurella other than the occassional sneezing but his bonded buddy died due to eye infection/head tilt the vet thought was triggered by Pasteurella.

I’m INSANELY paranoid about washing and stuff but only when it comes to my bunnies or cats. I guess it does me good too though because I haven’t been sick in like 3 years!!!

Oh no this never ever occurred to me! I volunteer at a rescue where the rabbits there are ready to be placed in homes, they do not house ill rabbits we live in California. When i come home I do shower but mostly because I am afraid TigerLily will smell other rabbits on me and get upset. Should I worry about illnesses even though these rabbits are supposedly ready to be homed?

I have old sneakers that I use just for volunteering and like KK, they only go into the closet or stay in the car. I never wear them around the house. I always go straight to the shower as well.

One thing is to be careful with other items you bring. Your purse, bag and/or keys. Many times, especially with purses, they are set on the floors, and so I am just cautious of where I set things that won’t be washed and carried back home.

I used to wear a smock that hairdressers wear too on top of my dedictead clothes and shoes I just used for that reason. Hand sanitizer is great too.

When my students volunteered at the animal shelter, I used scrubs for the kids.  I requested donations from vets & vet techs and got an awesome bag of scrubs.  I took care of the cleaning.  But this allowed them to wear something that they could use to protect from possibly ill pets.  Then they just took them off & I cleaned them.  Scrubs and separate shoes are really great for this…keep them in a separate tote or plastic bag.