White-Toothed Shrews (Genus Crocidura ): Potential Reservoirs for Zoonotic Leptospira spp. and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens?

Three species of white-toothed shrews of the order Eulipotyphla are present in central Europe: the bicolored (), greater () and lesser () white-toothed shrews. Their precise distribution in Germany is ill-defined and little is known about them as reservoirs for zoonotic pathogens ( spp., , spp., , spp., and spp.). We investigated 372 spp. from Germany (n = 341), Austria (n = 18), Luxembourg (n = 2) and Slovakia (n = 11). West European hedgehogs () were added to compare the presence of pathogens in co-occurring insectivores. were distributed mainly in western and mainly in north-eastern Germany. occurred in overlapping ranges with the other shrews. spp. DNA was detected in 28/227 and 2/78 samples. Further characterization revealed that had a sequence type (ST) 100. DNA was detected in spleen tissue from 2/213 samples. Hedgehogs carried DNA from (ST 100), (ST 24), and two species. This study improves the knowledge of the current distribution of shrews and identifies as carrier of . However, shrews seem to play little-to-no role in the circulation of the arthropod-borne pathogens investigated.