01617nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001100001300042700001500055700001300070700001600083700001500099700001200114700001500126700001400141700001300155700001600168700001100184700001200195700001900207700002200226700001600248700001300264700001100277700001500288245007400303300001200377490000800389520088000397022001401277       2016                            d1 aAvanzi C1 aDel-Pozo J1 aBenjak A1 aStevenson K1 aSimpson VR1 aBusso P1 aMcLuckie J1 aLoiseau C1 aLawton C1 aSchoening J1 aShaw D1 aPiton J1 aVera-Cabrera L1 aVelarde-Félix JS1 aMcDermott F1 aGordon S1 aCole S1 aMeredith A00aRed squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli.  a744-7470 v3543 a<p>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.</p>
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