Colorado Parks and Wildlife made a statement on this date confirming the outbreak, which had been reported to them by several people in the Fort Collins area who encountered rabbits affected by the virus. Fort Collins, located roughly 60 miles north of Denver, is the fourth largest city in Colorado (by population), and like most of Colorado, is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation not far short of 5000 feet above sea level.
Shope papilloma virus is a disease of rabbits, causing wart-like growths that grow into shapes resembling horns and tentacles. The outward appearance of the symptoms can be quite alarming, but the immune systems of the rabbits are able to fight the virus, and in time the growths will disappear. And fortunately, the virus is not transmissable to humans.
