wild rabbits with neck boils

Question
I see many wild rabbits in our neighborhood.  They are not scared of people. I noticeds today several of them have weird gray/brown boils around their neck.  At first glance I thoght the little bunnies were wearing pearl necklaces.  Should residents be concerned about possible zoonotic-human transmission of some sort of disease??

Answer
Dear Kathy,

It is extremely unlikely that these rabbits have anything that's transmissible to humans.  What's more likely is that the poor bunnies have contracted warbles, or encysted larvae of botflies.  (I can't see them to be sure, but this is common this time of year.)

Under normal circumstances, the larvae don't do much harm, though they are unspeakably gross.  They form a cyst and the maggot lives in side for a couple of weeks, then drops out to pupate in the grass.  The cyst should heal uneventfully if the rabbit is otherwise healthy.  If the bunny is compromised, though, a cyst can become infected and cause major problems unless there is medical intervention with antibiotics.

If you have a strong stomach, you can find pictures and links to more information here:

http://tinyurl.com/2ed2u25

Hope this helps.

Dana