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Found leprosy pathogen slumbers in squirrels - a risk to humans?
Researchers have found that most red squirrels in the UK are infected with leprosy pathogens. This could endanger the conservation of these animals. For humans, however, the risk of infection is low.
Still a danger to humans
Leprosy is still a major danger to humans in many parts of the world. The infectious disease is considered a disease of the poor. Although scientific advances in leprosy research have been made in recent years, vaccination still does not exist. In Europe, the disease is considered eradicated. But researchers now report that most red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy pathogens.
Researchers have found in an investigation that almost all red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy pathogens. However, the risk of infection for humans is low. (Image: Vojtech Herout / fotolia.com) Pathogen found in squirrels
Scientists from Switzerland and Scotland have identified the same pathogens that cause leprosy in humans in red squirrels in England, Ireland and Scotland. Using DNA tests, they were able to detect the pathogens Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis in the bodies of the animals. The results of the study have now been published in the journal "Science".
"This has never been seen before"
Although only some of the squirrels had symptoms, in almost all animals one of the two pathogens was detected. "It was completely unexpected that M. leprae causes the disease in squirrels - centuries after his disappearance in humans in the UK," said microbiologist Stewart Cole, a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in a statement. "That has never been seen before."
Humans rarely come in contact with squirrels
According to the researchers, the study shows that pathogens can outlast unnoticed in nature for centuries. "The next logical step would be to study the population of red squirrels outside the British Isles," said Andrej Benjak of EPFL.
"However, even though leprosy in red squirrels is common in continental Europe, the risk of transmission to humans is generally low, since they are rarely exposed to humans and the hunting of red squirrels is banned in most European countries" Benjak.
Mutilations by leprosy
Although leprosy is considered curable, up to four million people worldwide suffer from leprosy-related mutilation. In the past, the disease was also called "leprosy" because those affected were "exposed" and had to live outside human settlements.
In countries with developed healthcare, the disease is considered almost eradicated. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), six cases were counted in Germany in 2012 and 2013, all of them imported from other countries. In the UK, according to the researchers, there has been no leprosy infection for decades.
From a biodiversity perspective, worrying
From a biodiversity perspective, the discovery of leprosy in the British red squirrel is worrying. This species is in Great Britain anyway by the increasing spread of the American gray squirrel in distress.
"We need to understand how and why the disease affects the red squirrels and spreads among them," said Anna Meredith. "Then the disease could be better controlled in this species."
Other animals may be carriers of leprosy pathogens. For example, it was reported years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine that armadillosis are considered transmitters of leprosy in the United States. (Ad)