[3] Nearly 10 percent of pet African pygmy hedgehogs are affected,[2] due to their limited bloodlines.
Over time, the hedgehog will lose control of all muscles from the rear of its body to the front.
[1] The hedgehog's health will deteriorate over the course of weeks or months, and in the advanced stages of this disease, they become completely immobilized, making euthanasia a recommended consideration.
[5] Symptoms usually begin in hedgehogs before they reach two years old, but can occur at any age.
[5] Various vitamin supplements, antibiotic and steroid treatments have been used; some appear to temporarily improve the signs or slow the progression of the disease, but as signs of WHS wax and wane, it is difficult to assess the benefit of treatments.