Salmonella infections contracted from contact with African pygmy hedgehogs have sickened 20 people in eight states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Four people have been hospitalized and one person in Washington has died.
The tiny hedgehogs are purchased as pets. Often people are unaware that Salmonella can be transmitted by touching the animals, their environments or surfaces the animals have contacted and then touching their faces or eating without first washing hands.
The cases of Salmonella Typhimurium by state are as follows: Alabama (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (3), Ohio (3), Oregon (1), and Washington (7). Those were sickened range in age from less han 1 to 91 years old. Forty five percent of the case patients are children 10 and under. Health officials have traced the source of the outbreak to breeders in multiple states.
State health departments have tested environmental and hedgehog samples collected from patients’ homes. In Minnesota, environmental samples from a container and sink in which a pet hedgehog was bathed tested positive for the outbreak strain. It was also isolated from a second hedgehog purchased after the first hedgehog and case-patient in Minnesota became ill.
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection usually develop 12 to 72 hours after exposure and can last for up to a week. They include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea which can sometimes by bloody. Anyone who develops these symptoms after contact with a pygmy hedgehog should see a doctor.
