Little hedgehogs grabbed big headlines last week when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an update of a Salmonella outbreak that began last fall linked to the tiny animals some people keep as pets. So when did keeping African pygmy hedgehogs as pets become a thing?
People have been keeping the tiny hedgehogs as pets for more than 20 years. In 1991, the importation of wild caught pygmy hedgehogs from Africa was banned because of the risk that they carried foot and mouth disease, a threat to livestock. Since that time, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that ll US breeders be licensed.
In Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington D.C. and New York City owning a hedgehog as a pet is illegal, but they are somewhat popular exotic pets in other parts of the country. By 2005, the CDC estimated that more than 40,000 US households had an African pygmy hedgehog as a pet.
Salmonellosis, the infection caused by Salmonella, is the main disease threat pet hedgehogs pose to humans. In 1994, a 10-month-old girl in the state of Washington was infected with Salmonella from pygmy hedgehogs. Although she had no contact with the animals, her family raised them. Later that year, a child from Texas whose family also owned a hedgehog developed an infection from the Salmonella strain that was a genetic match to the Washington case.
Good hand washing is the best way to reduce the risk of contacting disease from pets. Careful handling of their food, enclosures and bedding is also important.
