Can bunnies be affected by E-coli?

[Rookie]

I heard on the news about E coli infecting people from romaine lettuce and I am just wondering if bunnies are at the same risk as us? Sprocket gets Romaine Lettuce so I keep washing it for him of course but I am just wondering if I should eliminate it for now from his diet?

[pinknfwuffy]

As far as I know, technically yes, rabbits can get E coli from infected vegetables but it is much more of a risk for baby bunnies, especially those who are weaning, because they have weaker immune systems. It should also be noted that most rabbits naturally have some strains of E coli in their digestive system already, as do most mammals. These are often different from the strains that cause widespread illness.

That said, they have not been able to locate a specific brand or distributor that has caused the most recent outbreak. Is the infection area close to where you live? Until then, I would continue to feed your rabbit romaine as long as you continue to wash it really well. I think the chance of him contracting E coli is pretty low while the sudden change in diet may be more of a problem. If you’d prefer to be extra cautious, I would feed a similar leafy green like red leaf lettuce.

Good to keep an eye on the news, though!

[Luna]

Good to know! Here is a link to the latest report: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/12/one-dead-e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-romaine-lettuce-spreading/#.WjQgCVWnGM8

[Danielle]

I was worried about this also! Thanks for posting!

[Rookie]

So here in Canada they already made the announcement to avoid the romaine lettuce fully if possible due to many cases being reported. So sprocket and I will finish the bag we have and I won’t buy him more for the mean time

[joea64]

The news about E. coli in romaine has hit the U.S. media in a big way over the past day or so, and my mother texted me last night telling me to avoid romaine for at least the time being. I haven’t noticed Panda and Fernando experiencing any problems from the Walmart spring mix they customarily get, which contains romaine, but I’m considering switching to other greens until the source of the outbreak is fixed. If nothing else, spring mix is likely to become very difficult to get for the next little while if/when Walmart and other stores pull it, since almost all spring mix contains romaine.

[Rookie]

Yeah on Canada now some stores pulled their romaine…. I read up on it and they advise to even toss what you have so that new greens don’t get contaminated in the fridge…
I have switched to green leaf lettuce and parsley for sprocket for now…

[Luna]

I threw out my romaine last night. Supposedly the outbreak was centered November 15 to December 8, but I still won’t be buying any until the FDA/CDC tracks the source. Here is the latest report https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/stay-away-romaine-lettuce-consumer-reports-advises-n834581

[LittlePuffyTail]

Romaine is the staple of my buns’ diet. When I heard about the E-coli in my province earlier in December, I stopped buying it. My grocery store pulled everything with Romaine off the shelves. I think they are selling it again now but there are big labels to wash everything thoroughly under running water. I have been buying Green Leaf instead. Thankfully, my bunnies do not object. I’ll be too scared to buy Romaine again for a while.

I always wash all my produce really well for myself and my buns, but not worth the risk. I miss Romaine too as I’m a big Ceasar salad fan.

[Luna]

LPT – I read that e-coli can get inside the leaf itself, so I agree it would be best to avoid it for awhile as washing may not be preventative.

[joea64]

I had a text exchange with the head lady at Friends of Rabbits about this issue earlier this morning. She pointed out that E. coli doesn’t affect rabbits in quite the same way it does humans (especially since certain varieties of that bacterium often form part of a healthy rabbit’s intestinal flora), but agrees that it’s wise to be careful under these circumstances. (And Caesar salad is my favorite too; it’ll be a rather dry spell until it’s available again!)

[Deleted User]

I haven’t had a good Caesar salad in soooooooooooo long, since Publix stopped carrying my absolute favorite dressing ever. I can’t eat any other dressing now, they just don’t compare! RIP Caesar x.x

[Paige]

If the e coli is on/in the ROMAINE could it contract to others in the store as well?

[Paige]

Idk why ROMAINE is in all caps lol

[Rookie]

Yes and no… yes as it is a bacteria and it spreads and contaminates by touch…. but no because if contaminated romaine touches lets say the kale… it will only contaminate it on the surface so with thorough washing you can clean the kale…
This outbrake is IN the romaine as it is water based and they are saying it is on the inside too and not just on the surface.

[jerseygirl]

I totally missed this when you first posted, Rookie. I’m really glad to see a discussion had already started and people were already being cautious. I only learnt of the issue with Romaine this week and had posted a warning about it. I had no idea it had been going on since early December. So is the Romaine lettuce there predominately grown in one region then shipped nationwide and up to Canada?

[Rookie]

They haven’t determined where the shipments are coming from and now they are saying they may never know as romaine has a short shelf life and quick turnover… but cases were reported in the U.S. and Canada. So both countries are affected. They are keep trying to track it but who knows if they find it. Some stores removed romaine from their shelves others have not so it’s not an easy thing to navigate and have to keep track of it on your own

[LittlePuffyTail]

Very frustrating they have not found the area the contaminated lettuce is coming from. I doubt they will at this point. Could have happened anywhere. The e-coli gets into the soil and contaminates the lettuce.

[joea64]

I was rather surprised to see, on my weekend shopping, that various supermarkets in my area still have romaine lettuce and salad mixes made with romaine on the shelves. Due to last week’s winter storm green vegetables were a bit thin on the ground but I still managed to get plenty of non-romaine lettuces (not iceberg, of course) with parsley for flavor for this week’s greens for Panda and Fernando. Their salad bowl was almost empty this morning when I removed it from their condo so they seem to be happy.

[Deleted User]

I was shopping at publix just the other day and noticed that they had tons of romaine and romaine mixes and no warning or anything. When I asked the produce manager about it, she said that Publix was informed that their lettuce is safe from contamination (not sure how they know that?) but said that all employees are required to sign a copy of that email they received so that they know how to answer customer questions regarding it.

Still, to be safe, I went with some red leaf lettuce, baby spinach, arugula and parsley.

[tobyluv]

I just saw this article, where the CDC states that they aren’t sure Romaine lettuce was to blame for the E. coli outbreak. Even though my husband and I and our bunnies had been eating Romaine with no problems, when I first heard of the outbreak last week, I threw away the Romaine and haven’t gotten any since. Now I wonder if other greens or veggies could have been the culprit, and wonder what is safe to buy. I’m not in one of the states that was affected by the outbreak. I’ve been to a few different grocery stores in the past week, and they all still have Romaine, with no warnings about it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/too-soon-blame-romaine-lettuce-e-coli-outbreak-cdc-says-n836181

[joea64]

Posted By tobyluv on 1/10/2018 8:48 AM

I just saw this article, where the CDC states that they aren’t sure Romaine lettuce was to blame for the E. coli outbreak. Even though my husband and I and our bunnies had been eating Romaine with no problems, when I first heard of the outbreak last week, I threw away the Romaine and haven’t gotten any since. Now I wonder if other greens or veggies could have been the culprit, and wonder what is safe to buy. I’m not in one of the states that was affected by the outbreak. I’ve been to a few different grocery stores in the past week, and they all still have Romaine, with no warnings about it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/too-soon-blame-romaine-lettuce-e-coli-outbreak-cdc-says-n836181

I’d been wondering if there was an update on this, since nobody has been able to localize a romaine lettuce source as the origin point of this outbreak. The fact that there haven’t been any new cases reported in a month is pretty indicative – since romaine lettuce is a perishable, it’s entirely possible that whatever lots of it, if in fact romaine is to blame, that carried the E. coli have long since been used up.

Considering that rabbits react to E. coli differently from humans – and in fact, that several strains of the bacteria are part of a rabbit’s normal intestinal flora – and that as far as I know no reports of illness definitely tied to romaine have been reported in bunnies within the past month or so, I am contemplating resuming purchases of spring mix in the near future for my own buns. However, I would still take care about human consumption of romaine.

[Rookie]

The only problem with that is .. how are you to determine which strain of ecoli is it? The harmful or not harmful for bunnies?
Also… yes while the initial batch of infected romaine is sure gone what it if the source it is coming from has the contamination and the lettuce they send out is already contaminated each time.
That’s my worry anyways with not knowing how it is contaminated to the lettuce itself. Did a packer touch contaminate it? Was it the soil? Or is it in their water that they spray with?

[Author]

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