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British red squirrels serve as leprosy reservoir

Bacteria responsible for Hansen’s disease may have been lurking in rodents for centuries

red squirrel

SERIOUS SIGNS  Red squirrels across the British Isles have tested positive for the bacteria that cause leprosy. This one shows signs of the disfiguring disease on its ear and muzzle. 

Catherine Clark

By Laurel Hamers

- More than 2 years ago

Leprosy has been hiding out in red squirrels in Great Britain and Ireland, though the painful and disfiguring disease has rarely been transmitted between humans there since the Middle Ages.