‘Frankenstein’ rabbits with face tentacles now pose threat to humans

More ‘Frankenstein’ rabbits are appearing across the US, sparking fears of a wider outbreak.

Originally spotted in Colorado, these bizarre rabbits, with tentacle-like growths sprouting from their faces, have now been reported in Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

The animals are infected with cottontail rabbit papilloma virus (CRPV), also known as Shope papilloma virus, which can be spread through mosquito and tick bites.

While humans are unlikely to contract CRPV, Dr Omer Awan of the University of Maryland School of Medicine cautioned that people could still face risks from other diseases carried by ticks or mosquitoes that have fed on infected rabbits.

‘You’re not going to get CRPV, and you likely won’t show symptoms of it,’ Dr Awan told the Daily Mail. 

‘However, you could still be indirectly exposed through ticks or mosquitoes that have fed on infected animals, which means you might contract a different disease.’ 

Indeed, illnesses spread by disease-carrying pests to humans include Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, both spread by ticks.

West Nile Virus, Zika Virus, Dengue Fever and Chikungunya are all spread by mosquitoes and can be fatal in severe cases. 

Dr Awan advised the best course of action is to avoid contact with infected rabbits and ensure any pet rabbits are protected from insects.

Dr Awan also warned Americans should prepare for the possibility of seeing even more cases of this grotesque condition spreading beyond the Midwest in the coming years.

‘Because temperatures are becoming warmer, we’re gonna start to see it become more prevalent as the years go on, and also to spread in areas where it hasn’t been before,’ Dr Awan said.

‘We have a series of states already in the Midwest, but perhaps it could go even more south in the United States, maybe Southwest as well. I do believe that this will become more of an increasing problem as time goes on,’ he added.

Dr Awan noted that it’s ‘extremely unlikely’ that CRPV will eventually jump to humans, even as cases among rabbits grow, but he admitted that it’s not completely impossible. 

‘You can never say never with science or with viruses, because they always mutate and things can change very fast, but I don’t see that happening in the near future with CRPV,’ the doctor said.

The latest sightings posted on social media have moved north of Colorado, reaching several major cities in central Minnesota.

In a series of pictures posted to Reddit in late July, one person revealed that infected rabbits were now in Saint Paul. Others reported seeing them in Minneapolis.

‘We live in Plymouth, and our neighborhood bunnies have the same thing,’ another Minnesota resident added.

A video posted to X on August 18 captured a rabbit with its face covered in CRPV growths in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – nearly 500 miles from the sightings in Colorado.

The first sign that a rabbit has the virus is red, raised spots on their skin that eventually turn into wart-like tumors.

In many cases, these warts develop into keratinized papillomas, the ‘horns’ and ‘tentacles’ seen growing out of midwestern rabbits.

However, some of the warts can turn into a squamous cell carcinoma, a serious skin cancer that can be deadly if it spreads and isn’t treated early.

Dr Awan noted that even if the warts don’t turn cancerous, they can continue to grow for years and become a major vulnerability to rabbits in the wild. 

‘What can happen is they can obstruct their vision, it can get close to their mouths, and it can prevent them from feeding properly, and they can even starve,’ the medical expert explained.

‘For others, it can make them more vulnerable to predators. So, it can certainly do harm.’

Dr Awan claimed climate change was the driving force behind the widespread increase in sightings this summer.

‘This is the time when mosquitoes and ticks thrive in these warmer temperatures, so because they’re able to thrive, they’re able to infect more rabbits, and hence, we’re getting more CRPV cases,’ Dr Awan said.

However, it’s not just cases of rabbit diseases that are going up. Cases of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in humans have risen in the US in recent years.

‘These temperature changes are resulting in diseases that were never endemic in certain areas to become endemic,’ Dr Awan said.

‘If you take a look at Lyme disease, for example, we’re starting to see it in areas that we never saw it before… places like southern Canada, northern states on the East Coast, like Maine.’