Rabbits with horns and growths on their faces took the internet by storm earlier this week. But are the rabbits contagious to humans, and should people be concerned?
To answer this question, we must first examine why the rabbits have horns to begin with. The affliction is caused by the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus. It causes skin growths.
"It exhibits as these wart-like growths on their face—sometimes they're smaller, like little nodules, and sometimes they're bigger, like tentacles or horns," says Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, to Time Magazine.
Cancer researcher Richard E. Shope first identified the disease in rabbits back in the 1930s. It's similar to the human papillomavirus, which causes genital warts. Rabbits contract it from ticks, fleas, and other rabbits, unfortunately. It's been a common affliction in the summer months, but it went viral this year thanks to some choice online photos.
Rabbits Have Common Disease
Fortunately, the virus is not contagious to humans. It also can't be contracted to other animals. Still, you shouldn't handle sick rabbits.
"That's what we tell everyone with wildlife," Van Hoose says. "It's just practicing those really smart wildlife principles of keeping your distance, not feeding them, and not trying to step in and help, because there's nothing we can really do."
Fortunately, the animals end up getting rid of the disease on their own. They're not typically treated. "I don't know if you've ever tried to capture a rabbit, but it's very difficult," Van Hoose said. "They're very fast."
Van Hoose said she was surprised by all the attention the virus received online. It's not something that she expected. It ended up making everything more hectic for her.
"This is one of the busiest days I've had at Colorado Parks and Wildlife," she also said. "Every day there's a new wildlife question that comes in, and that includes dealing with bears and an invasive bighead carp species that we pulled out of a small pond. I didn't think that rabbits would become our most interesting story."
Now, let's focus on those zombie squirrels.
