E Cuniculi lifespan

[_Elouise_]

Hi everybody! About a month ago my boy Edwin passed away from E Cuniculi. It happened super fast and his neurological symptoms were not something we would be able to treat… it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make but it was a quality of life over my want for him to be around. Anyways, I have the opportunity to adopt a brown magpie Rex cross whom I’ve named Eloise. My question is, how long is E Cuniculi contagious outside of the body? And to what extent should I bleach/disenfexg everything my previous guy touched? I do free range with my bunnies and I want to make sure she isn’t going to be at risk. I will be using the same cage (only as a homebase so she has her own space) that has been soaking in bleach, and I will be buying all new literboxes, fleece, etc. I have been trying to do my own research on this and I know pretty much everything about the disease itself I just couldn’t find an exact lifespan of the disease outside of the body… My previous boy also had an accident on our couch which I cleaned up as well as you can in deep furniture but if any of his pee was not soaked up is she at risk to contract it from that? I haven’t brought her home yet because I want to make sure everything is ready for her. Thank you in advance!

P.S
I am planning on spaying her and after that will be looking for a bunny friend for her as well after she’s completely settled in and healed

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Welcome to the forum, and I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your Edwin. If you want you can always post a picture here to have a little memorial. I’m sorry that I can’t give you advice re: E. Cuniculi, but there are several people here who sadly have had experiences with the disease.
Just wanted to say welcome and applaud you for being such an awesome pet owner! We get a too many people here who fail to do their research properly before they get rabbits. It’s always really refreshing to see someone who respects rabbits so much ^_^

[Deleted User]

Bombur was just diagnosed with EC, and our vet told us that Asriel could get it through Bombur’s urine. She also said that a lot of bunnies are born with it, but are asymptomatic and never show symptoms.

[_Elouise_]

Hi A&B,

Yes, that is what my vet told me. She believed Edwin was born with it and became symptomatic 2 years later. I had only had him for 6 months and had brought him to the vet twice for check ups and there was no inclination he had E Cuniculi. I know that urine is the only way it can be passed beyond birth but I also know that the spores are still active outside of the body for some time. I’m just not sure how long that is!

[_Elouise_]

Also,

Thank you Ellie that was really nice! I might go post a photo of him, he was my baby! I spent over a year reading up and learning about rabbits and try to be as educated as possible on any animal I get! Rabbits face some of the worst abuse out of any animals because there is so much misinformation out there about their care and needs.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

My back was acting up so I decided to make myself useful researching your question while laying in bed
Your search results will be better if you include the word “spores”, because that’s the form the parasites take to survive outside their host. This is what I found:

http://www.dierenkliniekwilhelminapark.nl/dierinfo/konijn/cuniculi.html
This resource says:

“De sporen kunnen 2 weken overleven bij kamer temperatuur en zelfs weken tot maanden bij een vochtige en warmere omgeving. Mocht uw konijn komen te overlijden maak dan het hok goed schoon en ontsmet het. Om besmetting naar ander konijnen te beschermen kun je het hok schoon gaan maken om de sporen te doden met 0,1% bleek of met 70 % Ethanol.”

Translated:
“The spores can survive at room temperature for up to two weeks and even longer in hot and humid conditions. Should your rabbit pass away clean out the hutch thoroughly and disinfect it. To prevent reinfection of another rabbit you can clean the hutch with a bleach solution or a 70% alcohol (ethanol) solution.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16368193/
This article mentions how long you should apply the cleaning solution to the spores to make sure they are destroyed.

https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2010/04/articles/animals/other-animals/eliminating-e-cuniculi-in-the-household/
Here’s another website which talks about removing the spores from household items.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sorry to hear about Asriel and Bombur, I hope they’ll be healthy and safe again soon!

[_Elouise_]

Thanks Ellie I cant tell you how long I was searching for that! Hopefully everything should be pretty good when I bring her home later this week I’ll just mop everything and make sure everything with the cage is super bleached and disinfected!

[LBJ10]

There is also evidence that EC spores can survive being frozen outside, so they are capable to lasting many months. I think it all depends on the environment and if conditions are ideal for survival. Two weeks might be accurate under certain conditions, but not all. That being said, most rabbits are exposed to EC at some point in their lives. The vast majority never exhibit any kind of symptoms. Who is to say your would-be new bunny hasn’t already been exposed? If that is the case, then it won’t matter if spores are present or not. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it. No need to stress yourself needlessly. Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt to thoroughly clean everything before bringing the new bunny home either.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

You’re welcome!
Some tips from a chemical engineer here: when you clean the hutch, do so while ventilating the house. For proper disinfection you’ll be using large amounts of strong cleaning agents which are irritating to skin, eyes and lungs. Use personal protection like gloves, don’t smoke and wear old clothes. If you have (safety) glasses around, use them. Be careful with concentrated bleach because it will ruin fabrics, and under no circumstance mix it with anything else than water, this can create toxic gasses. Ethanol is highly flammable and will evaporate, if you use a lot of it in one room it’s a fire risk. Keep all ignition sources away, don’t smoke and ventilate the room well.

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