Each year literally hundreds of millions exotic animals are imported into the USA and Europe. A future exotic pet may be running around in an African desert one day and find itself transported across the world to some family’s living room in say, Denver, within 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. These new owners are ignorant of the fact that their pets could damage the health of themselves and 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.
This article is about some of the diseases your pet hedgehog may be carrying.
In 2005 a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research study provided a list of zoonotic diseases that it had confirmed hedgehogs could carry, along with several potential infectious diseases. 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 CDC states that 20 in 100 cases of infection are due to contact with 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. The girl’s family were hedgehog breeders who kept a herd of about 80 hedgehogs. It is significant that the girl did not have any physical contact with the hedgehogs. The girl was infected by a family member. The same type of Salmonella has since been confirmed 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.
This story even more frightening because the woman concerned somehow managed to get around the UK’s strict quarantine laws and import several African Pygmy Hedgehogs directly into the country from Germany. Normally, in the UK, imported hedgehogs would be subject to six months quarantine in a government recognised establishment.
In this case the woman claims that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) allowed her to quarantine the hedgehogs at home although Defra has categorically denied that this would ever be allowed. Subsequently before it was learned that the German breeder’s herd was infected with ringworm, she had managed to spread the disease to the parents of the two hoglets that she later sold and infected three other people.
This tale is also an example of what can happen when you purchase your pet from less than reputable breeders. Over the past six months the breeder in question has promised to pay part of the new owners’ vet’s fees but 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.
Purchasing your pet from a reputable breeder instead of a pet store, should provide you with more guarantees about the origins of the animal.
Although the chances of catching an exotic disease from your pet are not very big, you must take into consideration that the risk does exist and take steps to minimise it. Follwing the advice on the CDC site will help you to reduce the risk of infection to a minimum.
Tags: diseases, hedgehog diseases, hedgehogs, ringworm, salmonella