A bit more info please. Is the 'bunny poo' fresh or has it already been composted? Do you plan to use this on a vege garden or just flower beds and if fresh, do you plan to add it now, immediately before planting or in the fall when it can compost over winter? I ask because if it contains urine it can pose excess nitrogen problms.

In general, all animals carry e.coli and can carry the hazardous strain of 157- including bunnies. Below is a link to some 100+ threads running on the problems associated with e. coli:

A search here at GW on 'rabbit manure' will also get you 100+ discussions on it. Lots of good reading. ;)

Lastly, Google 'rabbit manure e.coli' and you will find a number of professional abstracts on the subject. This link to a set of articles recent published in the medical journal Lancet can be accessed with Adobe Reader directly addresses the problems of e. coli E157 in rabbit manure.

E coli 0157 from infected rabbit feces

Here is a link that might be useful: E. coli

digdirt - dig a little further - re rabbits, your link leads to:
"....O157:H7 was not detected in any of the samples"
" ....Neither Salmonella nor E. coli O157:H7 was detected"
one study found that rabbits could be infected with a different strain of E.coli than the one that's caused problems recently

Escherichia coli is the normal gut bacteria of ALL mammals, including humans, and is largely harmless - enterohemorrhagic E. coli serotype O157:H7 is a particularly troublesome strain that has been the cause of all the food-borne illness problems in recent years, particularly with undercooked meat, because it [O157:H7] is found almost exclusively in the systems of intensively grain fed cattle .... the very first known occurance of this strain was found to have come from contaminated ground beef - meat can become contaminated during slaughter, and organisms can be thoroughly mixed into beef when it is ground - bacteria present on the cow's udders or on equipment may get into raw milk - water and soil contaminated with bovine fecal material can transfer the bacteria to field crops that are eaten raw

it's believed possible that pigs and wild ruminants [deer, etc] may harbor O157:H7 if they've picked it up grazing contaminated ground, but COWS are the problem, so make sure you cook all meat [especially ground] to 160°F minimum, and make sure you don't contaminate other foods, kitchen surfaces or utensils with uncooked meat

so NO Gary, your rabbits don't normally have problematic organisms in their Bunny Poo, and you should have no qualms about using it in your garden or compost, but hand washing is always a good thing

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: new vacine against O157:H7 in cattle

Hi Bill - yeah I know what the articles said - I offered them as possibly the additional info his wife was looking for. ;) Not CDC I know but pro support for his position, as he was asking for, nevertheless.

Sorry for any confusion.

Dave