facial abscess

Question
my rabbit has a facial abscess that just ruptured.  I'm not too sure about abscesses with rabbits since i have never dealt with a rabbit with an abscess. I was wondering if the bacteria can be contagious to humans?

Answer
Dear Ashley,

It is not likely that this problem would be contagious to a human with a normal immune system.  Many different bacteria can cause jaw abscesses, though, and you should definitely read these two articles:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

Please get him to a good rabbit vet for treatment of this painful problem:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana