Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

Charlotte Avanzi; Jorge Del-Pozo; Andrej Benjak; Karen Stevenson; Victor R. Simpson; Philippe Busso; Joyce McLuckie; Chloé Loiseau; Colin Lawton; Janne Schoening; Darren J. Shaw; Jérémie Piton; Lucio Vera-Cabrera; Jesùs S. Velarde-Felix; Fergal McDermott; Stephen V. Gordon; Stewart T. Cole; Anna L. Meredith

doi:10.1126/science.aah3783

Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

Charlotte Avanzi, Jorge Del-Pozo, Andrej Benjak, Karen Stevenson, Victor R. Simpson, Philippe Busso, Joyce McLuckie, Chloé Loiseau, Colin Lawton, Janne Schoening, Darren J. Shaw, Jérémie Piton, Lucio Vera-Cabrera, Jesùs S. Velarde-Felix, Fergal McDermott, Stephen V. Gordon, Stewart T. Cole, Anna L. Meredith

Zoology

Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer) › Article › peer-review

157 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	744-747
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	354
Issue number	6313
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah3783
Publication status	Published - 11 Nov 2016

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Avanzi, C., Del-Pozo, J., Benjak, A., Stevenson, K., Simpson, V. R., Busso, P., McLuckie, J., Loiseau, C., Lawton, C., Schoening, J., Shaw, D. J., Piton, J., Vera-Cabrera, L., Velarde-Felix, J. S., McDermott, F., Gordon, S. V., Cole, S. T., & Meredith, A. L. (2016). Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli. Science, 354(6313), 744-747. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah3783

@article{fc54d4ad078847d9a4e6ac95397b4893,

title = "Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli",

abstract = "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.",

author = "Charlotte Avanzi and Jorge Del-Pozo and Andrej Benjak and Karen Stevenson and Simpson, \{Victor R.\} and Philippe Busso and Joyce McLuckie and Chlo{\'e} Loiseau and Colin Lawton and Janne Schoening and Shaw, \{Darren J.\} and J{\'e}r{\'e}mie Piton and Lucio Vera-Cabrera and Velarde-Felix, \{Jes{\`u}s S.\} and Fergal McDermott and Gordon, \{Stephen V.\} and Cole, \{Stewart T.\} and Meredith, \{Anna L.\}",

year = "2016",

month = nov,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1126/science.aah3783",

language = "English",

volume = "354",

pages = "744--747",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6313",

}

Avanzi, C, Del-Pozo, J, Benjak, A, Stevenson, K, Simpson, VR, Busso, P, McLuckie, J, Loiseau, C, Lawton, C, Schoening, J, Shaw, DJ, Piton, J, Vera-Cabrera, L, Velarde-Felix, JS, McDermott, F, Gordon, SV, Cole, ST & Meredith, AL 2016, 'Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli', Science, vol. 354, no. 6313, pp. 744-747. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah3783

TY - JOUR

T1 - Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

AU - Avanzi, Charlotte

AU - Del-Pozo, Jorge

AU - Benjak, Andrej

AU - Stevenson, Karen

AU - Simpson, Victor R.

AU - Busso, Philippe

AU - McLuckie, Joyce

AU - Loiseau, Chloé

AU - Lawton, Colin

AU - Schoening, Janne

AU - Shaw, Darren J.

AU - Piton, Jérémie

AU - Vera-Cabrera, Lucio

AU - Velarde-Felix, Jesùs S.

AU - McDermott, Fergal

AU - Gordon, Stephen V.

AU - Cole, Stewart T.

AU - Meredith, Anna L.

PY - 2016/11/11

Y1 - 2016/11/11

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84994519975

U2 - 10.1126/science.aah3783

DO - 10.1126/science.aah3783

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 354

SP - 744

EP - 747

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6313

ER -

Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

Abstract

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