Staphylococcus aureus strains associated with the hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus

Abstract

1. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus were obtained from the nostrils of twenty-three of fifty-eight hedgehogs; the skin of thirty-eight of fifty-six hedgehogs; the paws of thirty-six of fifty-seven hedgehogs and the anus of six of eleven hedgehogs. 2. Of 118 strains, 106 (90%) were typable with human staphylophages. Seventeen were phage group I, three phage group II, twenty-five phage group III, sixty-one were typable but unclassifiable into groups, and twelve were untypable. 3. Male hedgehogs were more heavily infected than females, while all ages of hedgehogs appeared equally susceptible to infection. 4. Of the 124 coagulase positive strains obtained, 107 (86.3%) were resistant to penicillin. Resistance to other antibioticschloramphenicol, streptomycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, celbeninwas not encountered. 5. Thirty-three (83%) of forty strains produced -lysin. 6. Mites (Caparinia tripilis) and fungi (Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. erinacei) did not appear to directly influence the carriage of Staphylococcus aureus on the hedgehog skin. © 1965, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.