How to tell if my rabbit has ringworm

Many skin infections caused by a type of fungus called dermatophytes are known as ringworm . Although it is not an exclusive disease of rabbits, since it can affect several species of animals including man, it is especially frequent in the rabbit species. To detect it in time and avoid contagion, in .com we tell you how to know if a rabbit has ringworm .

Symptoms of ringworm

Sometimes, not always, we can find signs of itching in the rabbit, such as frequent scratching. The most typical of ringworm are focal alopecias (hairless areas), usually on the flanks, head and extremities. In many cases, these alopecic areas begin as circular lesions that spread.

Epidemiology of ringworm

If you have more than one rabbit, one of the easiest ways to know if someone has ringworm is to see how others are doing. Since ringworm is a very contagious disease, if a rabbit is affected, it is almost certain that the others are too. Sometimes there seems to be only one sick individual (the one that would take more time, or the one with the defenses in worse condition), but if you look closely at the rest, you will probably be able to find the previous symptoms, although to a lesser extent.

By the way, ringworm can also affect humans, especially people with low defenses, so you should take precautions when handling the animal, such as putting on gloves.

How ringworm is diagnosed

There are several ways to diagnose ringworm, the most comfortable, and possibly the least effective, is Wood's lamp, a kind of lantern that emits a type of light that reacts with some kinds of fungi giving fluorescence.

You can also perform a culture, that is, introduce a sample of affected hair in a specific medium and see if there has been growth. But, the most effective is a microscopic analysis of a scraping of the lesions performed by a veterinarian .

Tips