Leprosy Passed Betw Medieval Squirrels & Humans, Study Suggests: Fur Trade, England, Viking Scandi

- Leprosy passed between medieval squirrels and humans, study suggests, The Guardian, May 3, 2024. Ed. - Genetic analysis of Winchester samples shows similar strains of disease and supports theory that fur trade played role in spread 🐿
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Leprosy passed between humans and red squirrels in medieval England, research suggests, supporting the theory that the fur trade could have played a role in the spread of the disease. Leprosy is one of the oldest infectious diseases recorded in humans and is typically caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae.

While most cases now occur in south-east Asia, and can be treated with antibiotics, leprosy was common in medieval England and caused sickness and disfigurement in rich and poor people alike.

Previous research revealed that people in medieval England, Denmark and Sweden had a similar strain of leprosy to that found today in red squirrels in the south of England, with one theory being that the trading of squirrel furs, imported from Viking Scandinavia, could have been a factor in spreading the disease. Now experts say the theory has been given a boost, with genetic analysis revealing that red squirrels in medieval England experienced a very similar strain of the disease to humans living at the time.

This is the first time that we found an animal host of leprosy in the archaeological record, which is really exciting,” said Dr Sarah Inskip from the University of Leicester, who co-authored the research. Writing in the journal Current Biology, Inskip and an international team of colleagues report how they studied strains of leprosy found in samples from three people who lived in Winchester between 900 and 600 years ago, and a squirrel whose bones were found in a furrier pit in the city dating to between 1,000 and 900 years ago.

The team focused on Winchester because it was an important city in the medieval period and had a leper hospital and myriad skinners involved in the preparation and selling of fur-lined clothes – meaning it was possible to obtain squirrel and human remains from the time. The findings are based on just a handful of samples, and the results cannot shed light on whether humans initially caught leprosy from red squirrels or vice versa.. Squirrels were also widely kept as pets, offering another route of contact with humans...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/03/leprosy-passed-between-medieval-squirrels-and-humans-study-suggests