Deadly pets: Hedgehogs linked to death, illness in Washington
Jan 31, 2013, 1:24 PM | Updated: 1:29 pm
Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.
An elderly Spokane man is the first fatality from a flurry of recent salmonella cases nationwide linked to pet hedgehogs.
In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria.
Washington State Health Department spokesman Donn Moyer says people can be infected during routine pet care.
“If they are carrying a bacteria like salmonella, it can shed and you can get it on your hands, then it gets into your mouth or your eyes and so that is how people get sick by it. Once you are sick you can pass it on to other people, so prevention is the best tactic here.”
Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.
The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.
Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.
Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.
“The cases in Washington and those that are being reported nationally have all been cases of people who were exposed to pet hedgehogs who were carrying this rare strain of salmonella bacteria,” says Moyer.
In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.
Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.
Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.
The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
