02107nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001100001600042700001300058700001400071700001200085700001300097700001400110700001200124700001700136700001500153700002000168700001500188700001100203700002400214700002200238700001900260700001600279700001400295700001500309700001100324245008600335856008000421300000600501490000600507520123000513022001401743       2019                            d1 aSchilling A1 aAvanzi C1 aUlrich RG1 aBusso P1 aPisanu B1 aFerrari N1 aRomeo C1 aMazzamuto MV1 aMcLuckie J1 aShuttleworth CM1 aDel-Pozo J1 aLurz P1 aEscalante-Fuentes W1 aOcampo-Candiani J1 aVera-Cabrera L1 aStevenson K1 aChapuis J1 aMeredith A1 aCole S00aBritish red squirrels remain the only known wild rodent host for leprosy bacilli.  uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6367869/pdf/fvets-06-00008.pdf  a80 v63 a<p>Eurasian red squirrels in the British Isles are the most recently discovered animal reservoir for the leprosy bacteria and . Initial data suggest that prevalence of leprosy infection is variable and often low in different squirrel populations. Nothing is known about the presence of leprosy bacilli in other wild squirrel species despite two others (Siberian chipmunk [], and Thirteen-lined ground squirrel []) having been reported to be susceptible to experimental infection with . Rats, a food-source in some countries where human leprosy occurs, have been suggested as potential reservoirs for leprosy bacilli, but no evidence supporting this hypothesis is currently available. We screened 301 squirrel samples covering four species [96 Eurasian red squirrels, 67 Eastern gray squirrels (), 35 Siberian chipmunks, and 103 Pallas's squirrels ()] from Europe and 72 Mexican white-throated woodrats () for the presence of and using validated PCR protocols. No DNA from leprosy bacilli was detected in any of the samples tested. Given our sample-size, the pathogen should have been detected if the prevalence and/or bacillary load in the populations investigated were similar to those found for British red squirrels.</p>
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