Evidence from archaeological sites in the medieval English city of Winchester shows that English red squirrels once served as an important host for Mycobacterium leprae strains that caused leprosy in ...

Previous research had found leprosy in modern red squirrels, and genetic analysis suggested the strain was closely related to leprosy found in medieval humans. Don Hooper / Loop Images / Universal ...

Medieval residents of Winchester, England, probably got their leprosy from red squirrels in the area, according to a team of archaeologists and geneticists that studied remains from two archaeological ...

A bit of medical advice: Stay away from medieval squirrels. That’s what a study in Current Biology seems to suggest, anyway, after showing that red squirrels hosted strains of the leprosy bacteria ...

Genetic analysis of Winchester samples shows similar strains of disease and supports theory that fur trade played role in spread Leprosy passed between humans and red squirrels in medieval England, ...

Leprosy may have spread between red squirrels and humans between 10th and 11th century in England, research suggests. Evidence gathered from two archaeological sites in the medieval city of Winchester ...