Snot outbreak..

[Disney]

Hello

A breeder friend of my has a bign barn full of rabbits and recently she imported an amount of rabbits from Germany.
Within a few weeks a few rabbits started sneezing and snottering. A few days later she had 6 sick rabbits and moved them to her parents barn.
She was told to cull the rabbits because they were supposed to be picked up by their new owner.. but she decided to treat the rabbits without the owner knowing.
A while later the rabbits seemed to improve and stopped showing signs, except for 1 rabbit who keeps sneezing. Now she fell into a nasty legal fight with the owner who refused to pay the medical bills but that aside..

She found out the culprit who infected the others, today and also moved it to the other barn but now she heared a doe sneeze who is raising a litter and another buck having a wet nose without snot..

Now she is asking if this is a chronical Pasteurella outbreak or a cold that will blow over? And how does P. infect other rabbits? By the swirling bacteria from the sneezes or by direct contact?

I was supposed to send 3 of my rabbits over to her during my move to a new house.. and now we're both scared since she doesn't want anymore rabbits to become sick.

So what is going on with these rabbits and how does the virus move around and infect others?

 

[Zass]

She was told to cull the rabbits because they were supposed to be picked up by their new owner.

She was told to cull them? or did you mean she was told not to? :? I'm a bit confused, if she was told to cull them than she should have.

but she decided to treat the rabbits without the owner knowing.
A while later the rabbits seemed to improve and stopped showing signs, except for 1 rabbit who keeps sneezing. Now she fell into a nasty legal fight with the owner who refused to pay the medical bills but that aside..

If the disease is Pasturella, it is is not curable. Treatment can only put the symptoms into remission. Treating them without the owner knowing is HIGHLY irresponsible, as they could go on to infect other rabbits later.
Why would the owner have to pay medical bills if they did not know about or give permission for the treatment?

I was supposed to send 3 of my rabbits over to her during my move to a new house.. and now we're both scared since she doesn't want anymore rabbits to become sick.

Do not send rabbits over!

She found out the culprit who infected the others

If it's pasteurella, all sneezing rabbits can infect others. It spreads through the snot directly, and to some smaller degree through the air when the animals sneeze. There are multiple things that can make rabbits sneeze (bad air quality, dusty hay or feed, allergies, other pathogens). They do not get colds.

A whole lot of animals with white snot is usually a pasteurella outbreak.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I am sorry she is experiencing this.... Pasteurella is a bacteria, not a virus. It is spread by direct contact and droplet(droplets are small drops released when sneezing or coughing.) Rabbits do not get colds, so if there is snot, there is some kind of infection going on. I suggest that she quarantine the sick ones away from the ones that do not have symptoms for at LEAST a month and close her barn in the meantime, that means no new rabbits coming in and no current rabbits going out. If I were you, I would NOT send my rabbits over there.

 

[skysthelimit]

And despite what you may read, it is NOT curable. Please don't believe and claims of people giving drugs to cure it. they only mask the symptoms, and the rabbit is still contagious. It then requires life long medication, and I can't imagine doing that for a whole herd of rabbits.

 

[Disney]

She was told to cull them? or did you mean she was told not to? :? I'm a bit confused, if she was told to cull them than she should have.

She was housing the rabbits of a friend, but when they showing signs.. the owner told her to cull the rabbits since they would never be cured. The girl who is housing the rabbits, couldn't kill them and decided to treat them because the original owner distanced herself from owning the rabbits. So the girl became their new "owner" so to speak.

I did not send the rabbits over, they were supposed to go today. But the blood tests were negative about Pasteurella.. im confused about that part. Why would different rabbits start to sneeze, snot and have wet noses all together.. because of dust or anything? She tries to quarantaine them but she does not have that much space to keep them apart so some of them are housed with her 'healthy' rabbits.

 

[Zass]

There are some other pathogens that can cause respiratory symptoms. I was hoping that someone more experienced with those would contribute on here

I'm only familiar with Pasturella, and to a lesser degree, pneumonia.

 

[skysthelimit]

Yes there are like Bordetella. But still, you are dealing with rabbits that became sick, and unless it's just a pet, I would not treat it.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

She was told to cull them? or did you mean she was told not to? :? I'm a bit confused, if she was told to cull them than she should have.

She was housing the rabbits of a friend, but when they showing signs.. the owner told her to cull the rabbits since they would never be cured. The girl who is housing the rabbits, couldn't kill them and decided to treat them because the original owner distanced herself from owning the rabbits. So the girl became their new "owner" so to speak.

I did not send the rabbits over, they were supposed to go today. But the blood tests were negative about Pasteurella.. im confused about that part. Why would different rabbits start to sneeze, snot and have wet noses all together.. because of dust or anything? She tries to quarantaine them but she does not have that much space to keep them apart so some of them are housed with her 'healthy' rabbits.

The tests aren't always accurate, and there are SEVERAL strains of P.Multocida....that is why if see WHITE snot, I isolate immediately and watch to see if I see it again. If so, they get dispatched. Clear nasal drainage isn't usually a cause for alarm, mostly it is either an allergy or dust/fines up the nose. I don't like to keep rabbits that have allergies either, since to me, that indicates a compromised immune system.