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Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli.

  • Avanzi C Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Del-Pozo J Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Roslin, Scotland, UK.
  • Benjak A Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Stevenson K Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
  • Simpson VR Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre, Chacewater, Cornwall, UK.
  • Busso P Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • McLuckie J Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
  • Loiseau C Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Lawton C School of Natural Sciences, Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
  • Schoening J UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Shaw DJ Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Roslin, Scotland, UK.
  • Piton J Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Vera-Cabrera L Laboratorio Interdisciplinario de Investigación Dermatológica, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Universitario, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico.
  • Velarde-Felix JS Laboratorio Interdisciplinario de Investigación Dermatológica, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Universitario, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico.
  • McDermott F UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Gordon SV UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Cole ST Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. stewart.cole@epfl.ch anna.meredith@ed.ac.uk.
  • Meredith AL Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Roslin, Scotland, UK. stewart.cole@epfl.ch anna.meredith@ed.ac.uk.
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  • 2016-11-16
Published in:
  • Science (New York, N.Y.). - 2016
Animals
Disease Reservoirs
Genomics
Humans
Leprosy
Mexico
Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium leprae
Phylogeny
Polymorphism, Genetic
Protein Domains
Sciuridae
Toll-Like Receptor 1
United Kingdom
English Leprosy, caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae or the recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis, was once endemic in humans in the British Isles. Red squirrels in Great Britain (Sciurus vulgaris) have increasingly been observed with leprosy-like lesions on the head and limbs. Using genomics, histopathology, and serology, we found M. lepromatosis in squirrels from England, Ireland, and Scotland, and M. leprae in squirrels from Brownsea Island, England. Infection was detected in overtly diseased and seemingly healthy animals. Phylogenetic comparisons of British and Irish M. lepromatosis with two Mexican strains from humans show that they diverged from a common ancestor around 27,000 years ago, whereas the M. leprae strain is closest to one that circulated in Medieval England. Red squirrels are thus a reservoir for leprosy in the British Isles.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/111984
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