Skunks are wild animals, and their interaction with other animals exposes them to various diseases and pathogens in the wild. This would not have been a problem if skunks only stayed in the wild their whole lives. However, due to man’s activities, they have lost most of their homes to deforestation and now coexist with humans in a bid to survive.

Their presence in man’s environment predisposes man to the diseases and organisms they carry, making skunks a public health hazard. They do not only infect man or contaminate his food in the process of foraging, but they also infect domestic and pet animals, contaminate water sources with eggs from their feces, and infect food sources, this leads to a widespread health problem.

In this article, we will discuss five diseases commonly carried and spread by skunks.