Hedgehogs Linked to Latest Salmonella Outbreak, Health Officials Say

According to a new report from U.S. government health officials, hedgehogs may deliever an unseen danger of salmonella infection.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), contact with infected animals and their environments can cause Salmonella. Hedgehogs aren't the only small pets linked to salmonella outbreaks.

The CDC has warned in the past of salmonella spread by frogs, turtles, chickens, ducks, and hamsters.

The new outbreak involves a particularly rare strain of salmonella, called Salmonella Typhimurium, the CDC said. 

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria.Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state.

The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

According to information in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Feb. 1), four patients have been sent to hospital from S. typhimurium, and one death has been linked to the outbreak.

Fourteen out of 15 reported cases have been directly linked to handling a pet hedgehog during the week before onset of illness.

The CDC suggest thoroughly hand washing with soap after handling hedgehogs keeping the pet cages clean and other objects associated with the pet should be cleaned outdoors to avoid contamination of other indoor surfaces.

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.