Ever Get Sick from your Bunny's Respiratory Illness?

[Stormy]

Have you ever heard of anyone getting sick from their rabbit?
Jack (my avatar) came down with something respiratory and was running a high fever - I took him in to the vet immediately upon noticing he didn't come to the front of his cage that morning (Friday). I was holding him with his face against mine - he wanted to be up on my shoulder- for about an hour while we waited at the vet's to be squeezed in. We moved him into our kitchen as he's on quarantine. He's the kind of rabbit that wants to be touched and kissed a lot. The vet told us nothing was possibly contagious. Yesterday (Sunday) my boyfriend began feeling unwell. Then, in the evening, I wasn't feeling well either. Neither of us have gotten better, or worse like a cold. In fact we live way out in the country and haven't been around anyone with colds at all nor heard of any in the area. The feelings are malaise, achiness, exhaustion, some initial sneezing, swollen nodes, but otherwise definitely not a cold but feel crappy. I looked it up on the internet and came across lots of mentions of diseases transmittable to humans -for starters: http://www.medirabbit.com/Zoonotic/Zoonotic_main.htm and then I looked up the Pasteurella and Bordetella which the vet said was most probable - transmittable but "not likely". Transmission is usually through bites, but could be through a lick, or transmitted into the nose or mouth (like kissing him and holding his face next to mine for an hour!) and transmitted by contact on a human's skin or clothes... sounds pretty contagious to me.

Have you ever heard of someone getting sick from their bunny's snuffles or flu? We're not sure if we're having a medical emergency or not! If we're feeling unwell tomorrow we may go into the doctor - but I wonder if people normally get over a bug acquired from rabbits. I did come across a news article of someone dying from the "rabbit flu " a few years back.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5269766.stm)

I'm just a wee bit freaked out we can pick up something like this from our bunnies!! I've never heard of this before, and my vet was clearly ignorant of the possibility. We would have been much more diligent about our contact with Jack and probably not put him in the kitchen!!

Would love to hear from others if they've ever experienced illness they suspected came from their rabbits, and if they got over it or needed the anti-biotics for themselves.

ps. I've recently been through anti-biotic hell, another round of antibiotics is a very, very bad idea for me.

 

[Piper]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5269766.stm
"He said there were only a handful of cases of humans being infected with P. multocida each year, usually from dogs and cats, and deaths were very rare.
Man 'first rabbit flu victim'
Mrs Freeman, who farms with her husband Peter, said she was shocked that there was so little information about the disease among the farming community.
'Healthy country man'
She now wants to make people aware that handling dead rabbits can be potentially fatal."
- Your link refers to a dead rabbit.
- the bacteria is also carried by dogs and cats
- You can have your doctor take a culture, if you truly believe that it is possible.
-- I would also consider that you and your boyfriend have been somewhere where they were spraying for mosquitos. I just Googled the news for California and it seems to be the season. A farmer may have sprayed his field.
-- If it truly is Pasteurella, you should read this thread.
pasteurella-i-ve-never-done-this-before-t8227.html

 

[Secuono]

Did you go to the vet? If you did, it is possible you caught something from the staff there or other customers. I would believe that over a rabbit causing your illness.
It is technically possible, but I would be more worried that your BF and you have weakened immune systems and should be paying more attention to fixing that.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

well, I had the same thread that i asked about this same question. I have my doubt last year when i got sick at the same time of a rabbit that sneezed in my face. I really think it did come from the rabbit. The vets dont know everything. I also think if you are with it all the time . That you will get it once and then you become immune to it. Just my thoughts on it.
SO now i dont put my face up to the cages anymore. Any sneezing rabbit got culled . But i do believe that you did get sick from your rabbit. But dont be afraid to kiss him again after. .
They are going to tell you that it is impossible for this to happened. But honestly i do believe it can from what i did experience myself.

 

[Piper]

If it is that contagious, you better watch your cat, this same bug can effect dogs and cats, too.
[ edit this - If you and your b/f get sick, but the cat does not, you may have to get rid of the rabbit. The two of you seem like you just do not have really strong immune systems or, try to keep yourselves, healthier, so you do not catch it.}
- you have rabbits on pasture, and they have not gotten sick
-- New items
- the show on the 6th
- Possible mosquito spraying - around vets
- Possible spraying, on farms around you
- That you actually gave it to Jack, came back with it from the show, did not wash your clothes before handling Jack, he just showed symptoms first.
- an allergic reaction to some new air freshener or pollen, that stressed the immune system enough, that you go sick.
--- It seems weird that you have symptoms, so fast. That is why I wonder if you actually gave it to the rabbit. Watch out on taking care of the rest of your herd.

Stormy - am watching this thread. I hate being sick and hate drugs. Last time I had a cold, I used virgin marys with ginger, garlic, and horseradish. My mom did not want to be near me, but the cold left. I try to eliminate any other possible cause, or possible natural remedy that I can use, before I will resort to drugs. I still hope that it is just a reaction. If the humidity in your house is low / dry, it is easier to get respiratory problems. Possibly keep a damp towel in the areas that you use the most, to add more humidity.
-- Update, please!

 

[Stormy]

So I've contacted some really experienced rabbit people who've been raising rabbits for many decades. Guess what - I've gotten confirmation that there are rare cases of a person getting infected by a rabbit. It is rare but it does happen. What I suspect is that it may happen more often but people don't realize where they got sick from.

Things like pasteurella from my research shows it usually takes a bite or scratch, but can also enter the body through the nose or mouth. Guess what - I was kissing Jack's face, and holding his face next to mine in the vet's office waiting to be seen for a very long time - sharing breath as it were. Since we placed him in the kitchen, we touch him a lot and pet him, we tried to wash up every time but I imagine we may not have been diligent, believing we were safe.

Piper, thanks for all your suggestions, none apply however. There are no farms around here. I've been living here in the same house for many years and I already know what I'm allergic to - its a long list - and I know the difference between allergies and my body fighting a bug. No mosquito spraying in this tiny nowhere town, I have no idea what show you are referring to on the 6th. No contact with other rabbits, other than Jack's possible contact with wild rabbits. That is most probably the source, or his visiting a place a wild rabbit has been. We have seen cottontails on our property before. The vet says the organisms are just about anywhere in the environment and are not uncommon.

My boyfriend came down with it 2 days after we took Jack to the vet, no we didn't give it to him. A good train of thought though - about protecting my pets from my bugs! Though the cold virus doesn't do rabbits too, bacteria might. For instance I learned C-Diff, a human pathogen, affects animals just as easily. But I could have given it to my b.f. by kissing Jack and then him? He wasn't even at the vets with me, no one at the vet's was sick, there was only 3 people there. And, by the way, its NOT a cold or a flu. Its something more like a low-grade infection our bodies are fighting off. I feel it in my lungs and am achey and tired, my b.f. ran a low fever and is achey and exhausted.

And thank you for being concerned about our health, but we have rockin' immune systems. Probably why we don't have snot coming out our noses!! We eat the best organic vegetables and meat money can buy and/or that we grow, and do not eat anything processed. We get plenty of sleep and do not lead stressful lives. He and I had been home most of last week and that is why it really narrows it down to the only sick being that we have been in contact with is the sick rabbit in our kitchen. Jack leads a pretty wholesome life too running around and eating great food, I hope he kicks it.

Anyways, hope that fills out the picture for you. I won't stop kissing my bunnies but I think I'll take a break if they come down sick!! It was especially helpful to hear from a couple sources that its happened. I am printing out a bunch of documents and giving them to my vet who clearly needs to be informed.

 

[skysthelimit]

I seem to recall an article where does could get mastitis from staph or strep. I have to see where I can find it. Now I know does can get it, not sure how it interacts with other buns, dogs and cats can carry strep, though they are not affected as far as any doctor has told me, but obviously we are affected. I remember I used to get tonsillitis every time we got a new animal. Doctors used to tell you to take your animal to the vet if you got strep, because it could have infected you and they can infect you again.

I am very surprised I have not really had it since I got these rabbits. But again, I drink a lot of ACV.

 

[akane]

There's a lot of different strep though and not all is zoonotic. For example strep equi can only be caught by horses and their close relatives and causes what is called strangles. It's generally harmless to every other species. But strep zooepidemicus causes the same symptoms in horses except it can infect other animals and is called Cervical Lymphadenitis in guinea pigs where it is often fatal without surgery. Been there. Ended up involved in my veterinary class in tracking down the origin of a strep zoo outbreak because it hit my herd, unknown what it was in that species, and then hit my guinea pigs. We had one of the few proven outbreaks so used my herd to work backward to ground zero as part of our class.

 

[Stormy]

That's interesting, Akane - my new baby horse arrived mid-July. He had strangles several months ago, starting in January I believe. He was in North Dakota at the time, many babies in his herd died. Then when he was healthy enough, he went to Santa Barbara to be quarantined for another 3 months. So its been 7 months in all, I can't imagine he'd be infectious. But you've given me another angle to research. Though I don't think Strangles is treatable. I suppose if Jack doesn't clear up with antibiotics its something to investigate. Jack does play in the horse's corral.

 

[LauraNJ]

Swine flu, bird flu and a host of other things that can be contagious to people from animals. It is not always about having a healthy, strong immune system. If you body has no antibodies for a particular virus or bacteria then you will be more likely to contract it. You may be able to fight it off or fight it off better than someone with a weakened system but you may have a scaled down versian of it.

I'm not familiar with the horse versian of strangles but am with puppy strangles. Puppy strangles are an immune issue. Then the pup gets secondary bacterial infections and other issues which are treated with antibiotics. Puppy strangles are not contagious to people- it is the dog's own immune system destroying itself. They treat the immune system with meds, like steroids- to suppress the immune system.

Once the pup has been treated along with secondary infections the puppy strangles do not come back (at least I have never heard of it coming back, it is only a young disease).

 

[Stormy]

So, the dr. thought our symptoms most fit Tularemia, just to throw another disease into the mix you can get from rabbits. That one is usually from wild rabbits, but for all I know, my buck was hanging out and getting down with the local cottontails.
The symptoms of this disease in rabbits is not well known, as the wild rabbit is usually dead when a hunter gets sick from it, but it doesn't sound like the snuffles. So I personally don't think that's it.

The upshot is, the dr. says since we seem to be getting on our own (with the help of 8 different anti-biotic and anti-virus herb tinctures we are taking) to hold off anti-biotic treatment. She also postulated it could be a virus that the rabbit has and that we could have caught more readily.

We may never know what we caught, but I'm ok with that as long as it completely goes away in both me and Jack! She said Pasteurella was very unlikely also (although I had learned of a rabbit breeder with a sinus infection which cultured out to be Pasteurella - it can happen).

If you have a sick rabbit - take the precautions to sterilize your hands and clothes considering you may be able to catch it! And an indoor quarantine, despite the vet's recommendation, may NOT be the best place! This has been a very important learning experience!

 

[Piper]

Warbles, Organophosphates, Mad Cow disease, pharmaceuticals, (to me) a log of prescriptions - I went into rabbits because they are cecotropes, but I did not think I would find this on RT.
Be careful what you use, many of the dips / drugs will have you sick. Watch how you sterilize your hands, antibiotic soaps / fragrances can stay on hands and transfer to the rabbits when you handle the rabbits. It can (temparily) kill the rabbits natural immune system and leave them open to getting sick.
- The first one is 'kinda' easy, the other two are a bit heavy. These are about Warble Fly and a connection to mad cow disease, because of organophosphates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MheeiX2w8JU
http://www.markpurdey.com/articles_educatingrida_2.htm
http://www.whale.to/v/purdey1.html
-

 

[Stormy]

Thanks for the info Piper - though, didn't see mention of Mad Cow disease and rabbit connection? Freaky that everyone thinks it from cows eating scrapie when its really from a pesticide treatment? Anyways, I avoid pesticides, they are nasty.
I avoid anti-bacterial substances of all kinds too, they are nasty - breeds super bugs. The hand sanitizer I mentioned is natural - ethanol based with lavender and tea tree oil. Pretty safe.

ps. that's a great Will Rogers quote!