Disease Ridden Hedgehogs?

 

Hundreds of millions of legally and illegally imported exotic pets are flooding into the USA and Europe every year. One day an unsuspecting animal could be contentedly hopping around in Asia, Africa or South America and suddenly find itself transferred half way across the world and in some child’s bedroom inside a week. The main problem is that many of these animals are not subject to any form of quarantine or only minimal health screening before they are allowed into the country and then into our homes. Many owners are unaware that their exotic pet may be hazardous for the healt of their families.

Zoonotic Diseases

Zoonotic diseases are those that can jump from animals to humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA says that zoonotic diseases account for around three-quarters of all emerging infectious diseases today.

Below are only some of the germs and diseases your hedgehog could infect you with.

A CDC study from 2005 lists an alarming number of confirmed and potential zoonotic diseases that pet and wild hedgehogs can carry. The confirmed diseases include Salmonella, Yersina, pseudotubercolosis, Mycobacterium marinum, Herpesvirus including human herpes simplex and Rabies. The potential diseases they can carry include Yersina pestis (also responsible for Bubonic plague) and hemorrhagic fever.

Salmonella

Salmonella is normally contracted from contaminated food. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 1 in 20 of all infections are passed to people by exotic pets. For example they estimate that nearly eighty thousand Americans contract Salmonella from their pet reptiles every year.

In 1994 African Pygmy Hedgehogs were responsible for passing on a rare form of Salmonella (S. tilene), to a 10 month old girl who became the first ever confirmed case of this serotype in a human in the USA. Her family bred hedgehogs and had a herd of 80 hedgehogs. It is significant that the girl did not have any physical contact with the hedgehogs. She was infected by a family member who had handled the hedgehogs. This serotype has since been found to be the cause of infection in many other cases.

Ringworm

Despite its name ringworm or Tinea is not a worm but is actually a fungal skin infection. One source of ringworm is known to be pet and wild hedgehogs. Over the past few months HedgehogsAsPets.com has been covering a story where three people were infected with ringworm by two hoglets bought from the same breeder.

The story becomes even more disconcerting when it transpires that the person in question had somehow evaded Britain’s stringent quarantine regulations and managed to import several hedgehogs directly into the UK from Germany. Rabies prevention laws normally mean that imported hedgehogs would spend six months a government approved facility before they can be imported into the UK.

What’s very strange about this case is that the breeder in question claims that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) permitted her to quarantine her new imports at home, in a house that already contained, rats, snakes, lizards, sugar-gliders, hedgehogs and cats and dogs. The breeder later learned that the German breeder’s herd was infected with ringworm, but not before she had spread the disease from the “German” hedgehogs to her breeding pair. The offspring of these latter were sold and went on to infect three people with ringworm.

This tale is also an example of what can happen when you purchase your pet from less than reputable breeders. Despite many promises to refund the owners part of their vet’s fees after six months they have yet to see a penny.

Reducing the risk of infection

To reduce the risk of infection simply go to this site and follow the advice they give there: http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/browse_by_animal.htm.

Buying your pet from a reputable breeder rather than a pet store or pet distributor, should also provide you with more guarantees about where the animal came from.

The actual risk of getting infected with some nasty disease by your pet is rather small, but owners should be made aware that the risk is a real one. Follwing the advice on the CDC site will help you to reduce the risk of infection to a minimum.