Eco-Virological Preliminary Study of Potentially Emerging Pathogens in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Recovered at a Wildlife Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Northern Italy.

ABSTRACT: The Western European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is one of the four hedgehog species belonging to the genus Erinaceus. Among them, E. amurensis is extant in East Asia's areas only, whereas E. europaeus, E. roumanicus and E. concolor are mainly found in Europe. E. europaeus is endemically distributed from western to central and southern Europe, including Italy. Western European hedgehogs' ecological and feeding habits, along with their high population densities, notable synanthropic attitudes, frequent contacts with sympatric wild and domestic species, including humans, implicate the possible involvement of E. europaeus in the ecology of potentially emerging viruses, such as coronaviruses, influenza A and influenza D viruses, canine distemper virus, pestiviruses and Aujeszky's disease vi

SUBMITTER: Delogu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7143230 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature