E. Coli outbreak – ROMAINE lettuce (ongoing)

[jerseygirl]

This sounds like an extensive outbreak with cases in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington state to date.  Canada’s Eastern Provinces are advised to avoid Romaine currently also. 

http://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/avoid-romaine-lettuce-for-now/

Edit to add:  I saw this on Rabbit Advocates FB page. If anyone has additional information, please share it here. It may come to light there are particular brands to avoid for now. Or lettuce packed in a specific time frame. 

[Wick & Fable]

Wick’s vet made a point to mention staying away from purchasing romaine for a while, so I can advocate that this is information some professionals are taking very seriously. There are some deaths reported (humans), and while unsure about impact to pets, better safe than sorry.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Q8bunny]

Thanks, Jersey. I emailed the fam bam in Canada since they go through heaps of Romaine every week.

[jerseygirl]

I didn’t realise there was an earlier thread about this. Rookie brought up the issue here: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/164217/afnp/575817/Default.aspx

[LittlePuffyTail]

Really hating this. Romaine is the veg I feed the most. Luckily, they seem happy with the green leaf but I miss my Ceasar Salads. I’m gonna forever be paranoid about Romaine. I was with cilantro for a while a few years back as I had seen a lot of recalls online.

[Azerane]

Phew, finally found the thread

There’s been an update from the CDC declaring that the outbreak is over: https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2017/o157h7-12-17/index.html

[MountainBuns]

Yes! So glad it is over! Me and my bun can finally enjoy the delicious,crisp, crunchiness that is romaine lettuce! My bunny loves romaine lettuce. Its her favorite veggie.

[joea64]

Good to hear – time to get more spring mix for Panda and Fernando (and Caesar salad for myself)!

[Shadow]

Oh No!

Thank you for the Info so I can stop feeding my rabbit <g class="gr_ gr_125 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="125" data-gr-id="125">Romaine</g>!&nbsp;<img src="/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/BB_Theme/emoticons/cry.gif">&nbsp;Should I be worried that I have been feeding him Romaine for the past month?</p>

[tobyluv]

Posted By Shadow on 2/25/2018 6:04 PM

Oh No!

Thank you for the Info so I can stop feeding my rabbit <g class="gr_ gr_125 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="125" data-gr-id="125">Romaine</g>!&nbsp;<img src="/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/BB_Theme/emoticons/cry.gif">&nbsp;Should I be worried that I have been feeding him Romaine for the past month?</p>

That outbreak has been over with for a month or more.  You can continue to give Romaine to your rabbit.  The outbreak was only found in a few states and happened mainly in November and December.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m still too paranoid to buy Romaine…….funny, though. I will eat it in the Spring Mix packages but won’t feed any to Bindi. He’s too precious.

[joea64]

I actually bought a large package of romaine leaf this past weekend as part of the weekly batch of greens. I noticed the other evening that Fernando appears to really enjoy lettuce hearts – he took one out of the salad bowl and spent fifteen minutes happily chewing it down – so I think I shall look for some next weekend.

[Luna]

NEW UPDATE: Romaine ecoli re-emerges.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/35-reported-cases-coli-linked-romaine-lettuce-cdc/story?id=54499272

[MountainBuns]

Oh no!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Back to green leaf. Darn….it’s more expensive than Romaine here.

[MountainBuns]

Same, lol.

[Bam]

How tiresome! We’ve had spring for 3 weeks now, so Bam’s romaine has been replaced by freshly picked dandelion greens and a litttle bit of yarrow. Soon there will be apple leaves as well

[BunnyEcoli]

Bumping the thread because it’s the first one when you search about “Romaine lettuce Bunny E. Coli” on google.

It’s back.

[Azerane]

Thanks for that, I had a quick look for this thread earlier but didn’t find it. I have updated the thread title to reflect the current situation. Romaine lettuce in USA and Canada should not be eaten or fed to bunnies.

[Rawr]

Are rabbits affected the same way humans are? I know it’s a good precaution to throw this stuff out, but a lot of diseases only tend to affect humans. Has there been any confirmation that rabbits or other animals may be affected by ecoli the same way humans are?

[LittlePuffyTail]

DanaNM, one of our Forum Leaders, looked into this and found experiments have shown that yes, e. coli can affect bunnies similar to in humans. Not sure about other animals.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Rawr on 11/21/2018 11:14 PM

Are rabbits affected the same way humans are? I know it’s a good precaution to throw this stuff out, but a lot of diseases only tend to affect humans. Has there been any confirmation that rabbits or other animals may be affected by ecoli the same way humans are?

Here is a little about it in regards to diarrhoea: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm

Also, the bottom of page has some foods that *may* aid a rabbit that has intestinal upset. They could be good for those times they get a bit of gas discomfort. 

I’ll lock this thread now as we have several, more current threads on the topic due to the recent outbreak. 

[Author]

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