Shrews: a review of the diseases, anomalies, and parasites.

The diseases, lesions, congenital disorders, and parasites of both Insectivora and prosimian shrews were reviewed. Preliminary baseline data provide encouraging prospects for using these animals as research models because few spontaneous diseases and lesions have been reported. It must be pointed out, however, that throughout the literature reviewed, clinical histories were incomplete and histopathologic examinations had seldom been performed, particularly with the parasitic entities.