EC - Raising Awareness

After reading MaxiandScottandBuns's thread I am aware how misunderstood and often unheard of EC is

Some members that posted had not even heard of it

Being such a devastating, possibly fatal and often complicated disease perhaps we can raise awareness of it on the forum along with others such as Pasteurella and another that I had not heard of until now, Toxoplasmosis.

I noticed in the Care Reference Section there is nothing relating to it. And as mentioned in above said thread we see VHD and Myxi Vacs as essential but worming for EC is often forgotten :?

I know that there are several very experienced members on the forum who have had to deal with EC and the other mentioned diseases. Perhaps those that think they can contribute information could post on this thread and perhaps a mod or admin could modify and edit it later to add to the Care Reference Section? What is consists of, how it can be treated/prevented, helping to nurse infected bunnies?

What do people think?

Together we can raise awareness and help people help their buns

I'll help, horrible illness

Excellent post Thea, we should raise awareness because that is helping the bunnies, well done!!

Thank you guys

Feel free to make a post about any experiences you have had with said diseases, what you know about it and what you have learnt.

Hopefully with all knowledgeable people's help we can compile a informative topic that gives both quick information and several true life accounts that is not too complicated or hard to decipher

Encephalitozoon Cuniculi is also reffered to as wry neck and its a parasitic infection. Its estimated to be carried in approximately 50% of rabbits. Please note humans can also carry and pass on this desease. the spores are released in the urine so can easily be picked up.

The symptons of E.C. may never develop in a rabbit that carries the parasite but it frequently causes a head tilt and also the inability to stand upright this is due to disturbances affecting the balance centres of the rabbits brain. It Can also cause kidney failure, cataracts, incontenance and spinal chord damage it sometimes results in death and not every rabbit will die from this desease.

Treatment of E.C. is very limited but basically its all geared upto reducing the produced infectious spores and reducing inflammation in the brain with anti-inflammatories and steroids.

Panacur rabbit is thought to help the prevention of the infection spreading, and has shown to reduce the levels of the infection.

Panacur Rabbit can be given to your rabbit every three months (2 to 4 times per year). It comes in a paste and is given to rabbit according to the weight of the rabbit the recommended dosage is 1 syringe graduation to 2.5 kilo of bodyweight. I always use panacur on new buns that come to me just to be safe this is in addition to a two week quarantine.

Hope this helps a little
Tony

Tonyh said:

Encephalitozoon Cuniculi is also reffered to as wry neck and its a parasitic infection.
Tony

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Actually wry neck is a term for torticollis or head tilt not EC. Torticollis is simply a symptom of the E. Cuniculi protozoa but then it can also be a symptom of an inner ear infection.

I'm stuck halfway through writing an article on it at the moment, it's hard work. I've put it on hold after loosing my Callisto to an EC related CNS shutdown on Friday.

Sooz said:

I'm stuck halfway through writing an article on it at the moment, it's hard work. I've put it on hold after loosing my Callisto to an EC related CNS shutdown on Friday.

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Are you writing the articl on Ec hon? I'd be really interested to see it when you're ready to share. I am concernd about how rife Ec seems to be yet how hidden it can be until the last minute. I also have concerns that due to lack of understanding of the disease it is going to become the next "answer" to unknown problems :? If a vet doesn't know what's wrong with a rabbit at the moment they give it Baytril, is panacur going to take over?

I'll send you the link. It's only half written at the moment.

To be honest i didnt really know much about it,what can you do to prevent it?
And what causes it?

Great thread, and thanks When we discovered what our buns had been getting and what Sun had it was a big shock, id heard of it but it took us ages to get a decent informative artice (we eventually found one on the ebony eyes page) and we hadnt known about any o that stuff, and wed been keeping rabbits for years


It DOES need to be mentioned as often as other rabbit illnesses like snuffles and myxi, as it can do fatal damage

Il post here when i feel more up for it, its very important

Sounds like Sooz's article may be an excellent one to base a reference section on .

I have had 2 buns die from EC - although in the end with one it was pneumonia that was the final blow, I think this may often be the case by the time they are skeletal. That or flystrike.

However on the brighter side -one lived with quite advanced symptoms (blindness, hind leg weakness etc) for two years.

And on an even brighter note . I have at least 3 who have had the initia acute symptoms (head tilt etc) who have 'recovered' and are now living happy lives.

I suspect all my buns are EC as they share the lawn, and in some cases partners with those that are.

By the way - I did try and start a 'does one sex get head tilt more than other thread' a while ago.

i will now bump this up in the hope of more replies.

bluebunny said:

To be honest i didnt really know much about it,what can you do to prevent it?
And what causes it?

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There is a bit about it here

http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/reprint/148/15/478?ck=nck

One thing that confuses me a bit is the preventative course vs treatment - if it takes 6 weeks (or whatever it is, can't quite remember at the minute) to treat it then how does the preventative course work? If the bun has EC without symptoms then the shorter course wouldn't get rid of it, but if it doesn't have EC how does the preventative work at stopping EC? It must be in the environment for the bun to contract it, so what does the preventative course do to stop the bun contracting it immediately after the course is up?

Basically it doesnt always work. When it does it works to prevent at 6 weeks, but as treatment it can only halt symptoms most often because the damage thats already been done is too much for it to overcome, its usually permanent

Least thats what our vets are saying

As for how it works, i have no idea

The shorter course to my understanding, can act to decrease the spore count and make the infection more manageable by the immune system in the short term whilst antibodies develop.

The longer course acts by seriously decreasing the number of spores as it is given throughout the shedding cycle and 'could' act to prevent spores being produced as infectious when shedded. However a series of long courses could also affect the rabbits natural antibody response making them more susceptable to becoming symptomatic.

A lot of this is theoretical because there is no research available to prove it either way.

Sooz said:

Actually wry neck is a term for torticollis or head tilt not EC. Torticollis is simply a symptom of the E. Cuniculi protozoa but then it can also be a symptom of an inner ear infection.

I'm stuck halfway through writing an article on it at the moment, it's hard work. I've put it on hold after loosing my Callisto to an EC related CNS shutdown on Friday.

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Thanks for correcting that. I have never had to deal with EC and the info i related to was what was talked about at a meeting at a local vets about 6 months ago.

I have a copy of an article in the veterinary record about EC. It is an indepth write up of the research carried out in conjuction with the RWA, looking at the prevalence of EC in rabbits. It is from 2006 so reasonably upto date.

If anyone wants a copy pm with your email address and i will send it to you over the weekend. I need to get Steve to scan it for me.

I will warn you though, it ends up asking more questions than it actually answers :?

http://www.thebrc.org/health.htm

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/treatment.shtml

In the second one her vet suggests using baytril and Fenbendazole together they had a better result than Fenbendazole alone and that's not the first time I've seen that....there is a paper somewhere but I can't find it now :shock:

chloaster said:

Are you writing the articl on Ec hon? I'd be really interested to see it when you're ready to share. I am concernd about how rife Ec seems to be yet how hidden it can be until the last minute. I also have concerns that due to lack of understanding of the disease it is going to become the next "answer" to unknown problems :? If a vet doesn't know what's wrong with a rabbit at the moment they give it Baytril, is panacur going to take over?

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I'm with you on this one Chloe.

EC seems to be current diagnosis of choice for virtually any symptom or combination of symptoms you can think of.

I remember a few years ago when pasteurella was being touted in exactly the same way.

If someone writes these articles, I am sure Tams would put them up in the reference section