The species is a common synanthrope and is known to carry not only the hedgehog tick, Ixodes hexagonus, but also Ixodes ricinus, the most common European tick species.Dumitrache, Mirabela Oana, et al. “Northern White-Breasted Hedgehogs Erinaceus Roumanicus as Hosts for Ticks Infected with Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato and Anaplasma Phagocytophilum in Romania.” Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, vol. 4, no. 3, 2013, pp. 214–217., doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2012.11.010. They are known also to host zoonotic Bartonellae species. A large-scale molecular investigation of fleas was performed to the white-breasted hedgehog due to them being a geographically widespread species and being a very urbanized species. The widespreadness and urbanization of the species gives the white-breasted hedgehog a chance to spread their fleas, specifically Archaeopsylla erinacei, to cats and dogs, which could lead to spread to humans (Gilles et al. 2008). In the investigation, all fleas were positive for rickettsiae (Hornok et al., 2014). In this investigation, 759 fleas were studied, there was detection of Rickettsia helvetica (1.5%),Bartonella henselae (0.7%), hemoplasmas of the hemofelis group (5.2%), and rickettsia genotype were identified (10%)(Hornok et al., 2014).
