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Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Up to date studies indicate that wild hedgehogs may act as carriers and/or hosts for bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens with zoonotic potential, posing a significant threat to humans. The same applies to domestic hedgehogs, which are increasingly kept as pets. Considering the pot...

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Autores principales: Ruszkowski, Jakub J., Hetman, Mateusz, Turlewicz-Podbielska, Hanna, Pomorska-Mól, Małgorzata
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8230866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34208276
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11061754
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author Ruszkowski, Jakub J.
Hetman, Mateusz
Turlewicz-Podbielska, Hanna
Pomorska-Mól, Małgorzata
author_facet Ruszkowski, Jakub J.
Hetman, Mateusz
Turlewicz-Podbielska, Hanna
Pomorska-Mól, Małgorzata
author_sort Ruszkowski, Jakub J.
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Up to date studies indicate that wild hedgehogs may act as carriers and/or hosts for bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens with zoonotic potential, posing a significant threat to humans. The same applies to domestic hedgehogs, which are increasingly kept as pets. Considering the potential risk of infection to humans through close contact with hedgehogs or the contaminated environment they inhabit, current data on the prevalence of various zoonotic pathogens in these animals is desirable. ABSTRACT: Hedgehogs are small insectivorous mammals common across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The increased encroachment of humans into hedgehog habitats has disrupted the human-animal-environment interface. With growing interest in the zoonotic diseases of wildlife species, more studies have been devoted to this subject in the last few years. These papers provide information about known and new emerging diseases. Here we review the current knowledge regarding bacterial, viral, protozoic, and mycotic pathogens with zoonotic potential and assess the importance of hedgehogs as their carriers. Both wild and pet hedgehogs were included in the review. Data from several countries and various hedgehog species were included. The study shows the importance of hedgehogs as carriers of zoonotic diseases and reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens in varied habitats.
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spelling pubmed-82308662021-06-26 Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge Ruszkowski, Jakub J. Hetman, Mateusz Turlewicz-Podbielska, Hanna Pomorska-Mól, Małgorzata Animals (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: Up to date studies indicate that wild hedgehogs may act as carriers and/or hosts for bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens with zoonotic potential, posing a significant threat to humans. The same applies to domestic hedgehogs, which are increasingly kept as pets. Considering the potential risk of infection to humans through close contact with hedgehogs or the contaminated environment they inhabit, current data on the prevalence of various zoonotic pathogens in these animals is desirable. ABSTRACT: Hedgehogs are small insectivorous mammals common across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The increased encroachment of humans into hedgehog habitats has disrupted the human-animal-environment interface. With growing interest in the zoonotic diseases of wildlife species, more studies have been devoted to this subject in the last few years. These papers provide information about known and new emerging diseases. Here we review the current knowledge regarding bacterial, viral, protozoic, and mycotic pathogens with zoonotic potential and assess the importance of hedgehogs as their carriers. Both wild and pet hedgehogs were included in the review. Data from several countries and various hedgehog species were included. The study shows the importance of hedgehogs as carriers of zoonotic diseases and reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens in varied habitats. MDPI 2021-06-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8230866/ /pubmed/34208276 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11061754 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Ruszkowski, Jakub J.
Hetman, Mateusz
Turlewicz-Podbielska, Hanna
Pomorska-Mól, Małgorzata
Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title_full Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title_fullStr Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title_full_unstemmed Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title_short Hedgehogs as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Pathogens—A Review and an Update of Knowledge
title_sort hedgehogs as a potential source of zoonotic pathogens—a review and an update of knowledge
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8230866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34208276
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11061754
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