African pygmy hedgehog--associated Salmonella tilene in Canada.

The first four Canadian laboratory-confirmed cases were isolated in May 1995. Three family members from central Alberta, a 32-year-old female and her two female children (5 and 3 years of age) presented with gastrointestinal symptoms. S. Tilene was isolated from stool specimens from these cases and also from a frequent visitor, an asymptomatic 13-year-old male. Stool samples were collected from the family’s rheas, llamas, and breeding herd of hedgehogs. S. Tilene was isolated from the stools of two hedgehogs. The fifth laboratory-confirmed case also occurred in central Alberta in a 4-month-old female in June 1995. Her family had two sugar gliders; both were ill and later died. Stools from the sugar gliders tested positive for S. Tilene.