Keynote speakers:

    1. Jesper Larsen, Department of Bacteria, Parasites & Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

   
    "Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hedgehogs"

 Abstract:

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be one of the most common antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing invasive disease in humans. It is estimated that in Europe alone MRSA causes approximately 171.000 invasive infections each year. MRSA is resistant to all ß-lactam antibiotics, including penicillin. This has serious implications for the treatment of severe infections and MRSA is now considered to be one of the world’s greatest threats to human health by the World Health Organization. MRSA was first described in patients in 1961 shortly after the introduction of methicillin as a therapeutic option. Many MRSA reservoirs have since been identified in hospitals and other health care facilities, the community and most recently in food animals. The seeming link between the use of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine and the emergence of MRSA in these reservoirs have led to the generally accepted belief that methicillin resistance is a modern phenomenon. Recent studies from Sweden and Denmark showed that two distinct MRSA clones, CC130 and CC1943, are highly prevalent in wild hedgehogs and that the hedgehog dermatophyte Trichophyton erinacei produces penicillin, which provide a natural selective environment where MRSA CC130/CC1943 isolates have an advantage over methicillin-susceptible isolates. MRSA CC130/CC1943 have been a cause of human infection in Western Europe at least since the 1970s and have also been found in grazing farm animals, especially cattle, sheep, goats and horses, as well as in other wildlife, but at frequencies that are much lower than in hedgehogs. These findings support that hedgehogs could be a naturally occurring reservoir for MRSA CC130/CC1943 from where they can spread to humans, either directly through contact to hedgehogs or indirectly via other animals or the environment.

    2. Anne Berger; Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin;

   
    "Urban ecology and European hedgehogs"

 Abstract:

European hedgehog populations are declining across Europe, with the downward trend being even more pronounced in rural areas than in urban areas. Nowadays, European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) have been found in higher densities in green areas of settlements as compared to rural spaces. On the other hand, increasing urbanisation is a global phenomenon and has led to more than 50% of the world's human population living in cities. Global urbanisation means important impacts for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: Although cities tend to be characterised by fewer natural resources, greater anthropogenic disturbance and more fragmentation than pristine systems, urban areas have greater habitat diversity, more (often anthropogenic) resources and fewer natural enemies. Anthropogenic influences create an urban landscape that varies greatly in habitat availability, climate, light and noise pollution levels, and species composition at small spatial scales compared to the non-urban environment. This extreme pressure can lead to profound behavioural adaptations in urban wildlife.

Effective hedgehog conservation requires a deep understanding of the hedgehog's ability to adapt to a changing environment, especially urban environments, as these have become particularly important for hedgehogs due to overall population declines.

I will present study results on urban hedgehogs (especially hedgehogs in Berlin, Germany) about their genetic diversity and behavioural plasticity to anthropogenic disturbances. The study of urban hedgehogs also require an adaptation of the research methods and tasks to the urban conditions, in order to ultimately gather knowledge and contribute to hedgehog-friendly cities by evidence-based management decisions. Such cities can potentially maintain healthy populations in the long term and even provide source populations for the reintroduction of restored rural areas.