Can rabbits be affected by cyclosporiasis from humans?

[Cottontail]

Today I saw an article stating that many people, apparently as far back as 2012, have gotten sick from cyclosporiasis found on cilantro imported from Mexico.  The cyclosporiasis is a microscopic parasite that is present due to the presence of human feces in the crops/harvest.   The parasitic infections include watery diarrhea, gas, cramping, bloating, nausea, weight loss, appetite loss, and fatigue.  I have looked around but found no information as to whether or not animals such as bunnies can contract and be affected by the infection. 

I recently stopped giving cilantro to my buns until I can grow my own; partially because it’s high in calcium and partially because I’m cutting back on the size of Tilly’s salad to encourage her to eat more hay… but now I’m glad that I’m not feeding it to them anymore.  It could very well be that it’s nothing to worry about, but I was unsure if anyone else had more information on the subject? 

Can bunnies become sick from cyclosporiasis?

[JackRabbit]

Not going to ask why human feces are in the crop fields, but is it only the cilantro imported from Mexico? Any word about parsley? Ugh!

Parsley, kale, and many of the “greens” (collard greens, turnip greens, etc) are high in calcium, but cilantro is one of the lower ones. http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-5/calcium.html

[JackRabbit]

I did a search and found LBJ looking for an answer a couple of years ago — did you ever find out LBJ?

[LBJ10]

There isn’t a ton of information, but there was a scientific journal article that said people had attempted to infect various animals (including rabbits) with the species that infects humans and the attempts were unsuccessful. Because of this, it is believed that it is specific to humans and maybe some other primates.

I would still at least wash stuff though…

[Cottontail]

According to the article, it was only cilantro from Mexico; the cilantro from CA and other places are fine. I didn’t see any other veggies listed; but apparently the particular investigation found that the cilantro farms in question did not have adequate (or sometimes any) restroom facility available and that they had found feces and toilet paper in the fields. Considering that they cited incidents back as far as 2012 and that they have not done any recalls, I imagine that the actual contamination levels must be quite low, but it still makes me think that this is probably the case for other Mexican crops as well (the article did not indicate this, just my assumption.) I couldn’t see anywhere where they listed which manufacturer/company was responsible, but figured it must simply be wholesalers to various companies if it’s not listing anyone in particular.

I’m glad that it was unsuccessful, but yes; I still wash all of my salads for us and for the bunnies. (unless it comes straight from my own garden pot… then sometimes I’m guilty of skipping a wash from time to time.)

I’ll have to review the calcium levels in veggies again; The bulk of Tillys salads at the moment is green leaf lettuce and celery, and we have not been able to get fresh dandelion for about a week now. Since cilantro is so much lower than I thought it was I might pick some up for her; but I’m still going to find something local rather than from Mexico.

Thank you both!

[LBJ10]

Yeah, that was the only real information I could find on the topic. Yep, they tried infecting a bunch of different animals and it didn’t work. Good to know and I guess good for those poor animals too.

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