Hedgehogs and antibiotic resistance: A review

Antimicrobial resistance has become a concern for public health in the last decades due to overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Hedgehogs live in close contact with humans, their pets, and livestock. Their numbers have been rising in gardens, farms, and green areas in the cities. This close contact with humans and pets poses a potential risk for zoonotic transmission. These animals are host to a wide variety of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites some of which are considered zoonotic. Antibiotic resistance (AMR) in hedgehog knowledge is still very scarce, but the few studies performed show that they are hosts of AMR and play an important role in their dispersion in the environment. Also, because they live in close contact with humans, and same species are pets, they are more vulnerable to acquiring these pathogens. In the present study, we aim to compile the latest studies that describe the presence of antibiotic-resistant in hedgehogs.