Hedgehog zoonoses.To the Editor: The article on hedgehog zoonoses Zoonoses Infections of humans caused by the transmission of disease agents that naturally live in animals. People become infected when they unwittingly intrude into the life cycle of the disease agent and become unnatural hosts. (1) reviews diseases transmitted from African and European hedgehogs to humans but does not compare their infectious potential to that of other animals and people. For example, cats and Yorkshire terriers are well-known vectors of ringworm ringworm or tinea (tĭn`ēə), superficial eruption of the skin caused by a fungus, chiefly Microsporum, Trichophyton, or Epidermophyton. (2), but this has not been highlighted in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Also, the reports of herpesvirus herpesvirus, any of the family (Herpesviridae) of common DNA-containing viruses, many of which are associated with human disease. See cytomegalovirus; Epstein-Barr virus; herpes simplex; herpes zoster. (including human herpes simplex herpes simplex (hûr`pēz), an acute viral infection of the skin characterized by one or more painful, itching blisters filled with clear fluid. ) hepatitis described in the article occurred as fatal hepatitis in hedgehogs, whereas their owners apparently escaped unscathed. These cases appear to be "reverse zoonoses" that are dangerous for the pet but not its human contacts. Perhaps the misleading table in the article should be revised so that busy medical doctors don't jump to conclusions, and hedgehogs don't end up on the euthanasia list at shelters. Melissa Behr, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State Department of Health, Albany, New York For other uses, see Albany. Albany is the capital of the State of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany lies 136 miles (219 km) north of New York City, and slightly to the south of the juncture of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. , USA References (1.) Riley PY, Chomel BB. Hedgehog zoonoses. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005; 11:1-5. (2.) Scott DW, Miller WH, Griffin CE. Muller and Kirk's small animal dermatology. 6th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company; 2000. Address for correspondence: Melissa Behr, New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, PO Box 22002, Albany, New York 12201-2002, USA; fax: 518-474-2155; email: behr@wadsworth.org In response: We thank Dr. Behr for her comment (1). The intent of our manuscript was to report, from a literature review, information on zoonotic Zoonotic A disease which can be spread from animals to humans. Mentioned in: Zoonosis infections related to hedgehogs. Of course, we are mainly concerned with infections or infestations that hedgehogs can transmit to humans, but we also noted that the inverse can be true, and humans can be a source of infection in pet hedgehogs. This manuscript was intended to inform not only physicians but also veterinarians and wildlife rescuers who may not be familiar with zoonotic diseases Zoonotic diseases Diseases caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between (or are shared by) animals and humans. This can include transmission through the bite of an insect, such as a mosquito. Mentioned in: West Nile Virus borne by or transmitted to hedgehogs. We also would like to take advantage of this letter to clarify a few points from our manuscript. First of all, pet hedgehogs are mainly African pygmy hedgehogs, and no reliable data are available regarding the number of European hedgehogs that are kept as pets either in Europe, the United States, or other parts of the world. In many European countries, native hedgehogs are protected by law and cannot be kept as pets (F. Moutou, pers. comm.). Furthermore, our comment on plague and "hedgehogs" in Madagascar was meant to be informative, as these animals are found only on that island. They are not true hedgehogs (belonging to the family Tenrecidae and not Erinaceidae) and are unlikely to be kept as pets (2; F. Moutou, pers. comm.). In our literature review from PubMed, we found no report of human leptospirosis leptospirosis (lĕp'təspīrō`sĭs), febrile disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospirae. The disease occurs in dogs, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses and is transmissible to humans. infection from hedgehogs. However, the European hedgehog is considered the main host of Leptospira bratislava in the Netherlands and Denmark and the main host of L. canicola in Israel (2). Finally, if hedgehogs can be infected by lungworms of the genus Capillaria, no report of a human infection transmitted by hedgehogs has been published to our knowledge. Bruno B. Chomel * and Patricia Y. Riley * * University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA References (1.) Behr M. Hedgehog zoonoses. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11:1146. (2.) Smith JMB JMB Journal of Molecular Biology JMB Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh JMB Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Islamic terrorist group) JMB Joint Matriculation Board JMB Joint Maintenance Board JMB Journal of Mathematical Behaviour . Diseases of hedgehogs. Vet Bull. 1968;38:425-30. Address for correspondence: Bruno B. Chomel, Department of Population Health and Reproduction-School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA; fax: 530-752-2377; email: bbchomel@ucdavis.edu |
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