| Summary: | The European mole (<i>Talpa europaea</i>) has a widespread distribution throughout Europe. However, little is known about the presence of zoonotic pathogens in European moles. We therefore tested 180 moles from the middle and the south of the Netherlands by (q)PCR for the presence of multiple (tick-borne) zoonotic pathogens. Spotted fever <i>Rickettsia</i> was found in one (0.6%), <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in three (1.7%), <i>Bartonella</i> spp. in 69 (38.3%) and <i>Hantaviridae</i> in 89 (49.4%) of the 180 moles. Infections with <i>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</i>, <i>Babesia</i> spp., <i>Neoehrlichia mikurensis</i>, <i>Borrelia</i> spp., <i>Spiroplasma</i> spp. and <i>Francisella tularensis</i> were not found. In addition, in a subset of 35 moles no antibodies against <i>Tick-borne encephalitis virus</i> were found. The obtained sequences of <i>Bartonella</i> spp. were closely related to <i>Bartonella</i> spp. sequences from moles in Spain and Hungary. The <i>Hantaviridae</i> were identified as the mole-borne Nova virus, with high sequence similarity to sequences from other European countries, and Bruges virus. Though the zoonotic risk from moles appears limited, our results indicate that these animals do play a role in multiple host-pathogen cycles.
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