Table 1.
The structure of the hedgehog population tested for seroprevalence
| Variable | Number of individuals | |
|---|---|---|
| Health status | Polytrauma | 29 |
| Respiratory disease | 1 | |
| Gastrointestinal disease | 1 | |
| Others (cachexia) | 4 | |
| Healthy | 4 | |
| No data | 4 | |
| Sex | Male | 27 |
| Female | 16 | |
| Body weight (g) | <400 | 10 |
| 400–650 | 16 | |
| 651–900 | 13 | |
| >900 | 4 | |
| Total | 43 |
Table 2.
Results of hedgehog spleen sample testing in PCR, indicating the number of positive individuals and prevalence of Anaplasma spp. and Rickettsia spp. among the population subgroups
| Variable | Total | Anaplasma spp. | Rickettsia spp. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| + | Prevalence (%) | 95% CIa | P-value | + | Prevalence (%) | 95% CIa | P-value | |||
| Health status | Polytrauma | 15 | 10 | 66.67 | 41.71–84.82 | 0.046 | 4 | 26.67 | 10.90–51.95 | 0.325 |
| Respiratory disease | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–65.76 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–65.76 | |||
| Gastrointestinal disease | 2 | 1 | 50.00 | 9.45–90.55 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–65.76 | |||
| Others (cachexia) | 7 | 7 | 100 | 64.57–100 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–35.43 | |||
| Sex | Male | 13 | 8 | 61.64 | 35.52–82.29 | 0.671 | 3 | 23.08 | 8.18–50.26 | 0.587 |
| Female | 13 | 10 | 76.92 | 49.74–91.82 | 1 | 7.69 | 1.37–33.31 | |||
| Body weight (g) | <400 | 7 | 5 | 71.43 | 35.89–91.78 | 0.980 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.00–35.43 | 0.399 |
| 400–650 | 12 | 8 | 66.67 | 39.06–86.19 | 3 | 25.00 | 8.89–53.23 | |||
| 651–900 | 3 | 2 | 66.67 | 20.77–93.85 | 0 | 0,00 | 0.00–56.15 | |||
| >900 | 4 | 3 | 75.00 | 30.06–94.44 | 1 | 25.00 | 4.56–69.94 | |||
| Total | 26 | 18 | 69.23 | 50.01–83.50 | 4 | 15.38 | 6.15–33.53 | |||
Table 3.
Primers and PCR conditions for detection and identification of Anaplasma/Ehrlichia spp., Babesia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi and Leptospira spp. in spleen tissue samples from hedgehogs
| Pathogen | Primers | Target gene | Amplicon size (base pairs) | PCR conditions | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ehrlichia spp/Anaplasma spp. | 1: 5′-CTG GGG ACT ACG GTC GCA AGA C-3′ 2: 5′-CTC CAG TTT ATC ACT GGA AGT T-3′ | 16S–23S RNA | 299 | ×1: den. at 95°C for 600 s ×45: den. at 95°C for 60 s, ann. at 60°C for 60 s, ext. at 72°C for 30 s | 6 |
| Rickettsia spp. | 120-2113: 5′-CGATGCTAACGTAGGTTCTT-3′ 120AA-2235: 5′-CCGGCTATACCGCCTGTAG-3′ | rOmpB | 773 | ×1: den. at 95°C for 180 s ×40: den. at 95°C for 30 s, ann. at 50°C for 30 s, ext. at 68°C for 90 s ×1: 68° for 420 s | 30 |
| Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato | M1: 5′-ACG ATG CAC ACT TGG TGT TAA-3′ M2: 5′-TCC GAC TTA TCA CCG GCA GTC A-3′ | 16S RNA | 357 | ×1: den. at 85°C for 600 s ×30: den. at 85°C for 30 s, ann. at 50°C for 30 s, ext. at 65°C for 60 s ×1: ext. at 65°C for 600 s | 20 |
| Leptospira spp. | G1: 5′-CTG AAT CGC TGT ATA AAA GT-3′ G2: 5′-GGA AAA CAA ATG GTC GGA AG-3′ | 16S RNA | 298–320 | ×1: den. at 94°C for 180 s ×28: den. at 94°C for 30 s, ann. at 51°C for 60 s, ext. at 72°C for 180 s ×1: ext. at 72°C for 300 s | 25 |