British Red Squirrels Remain the Only Known Wild Rodent Host for Leprosy Bacilli

Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli.

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, ...

WILDLIFE DISEASE Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli

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, ...

Toxoplasma gondii in Wild Red Squirrels, the Netherlands, 2014

To the Editor: Toxoplasma gondii, a zoonotic protozoan parasite for which felids are the only definitive hosts, can infect humans and other warm-blooded animals. Transmission usually occurs orally from oocysts shed by felids in water and on food, through tissue cysts in undercooked meat, or transplacentally. In particular, young cats shed oocysts that can sporulate and become infectious within ...

A new method for staining leprosy bacilli.

To a paper on a new method for staining tubercle bacilli with Nachtblau which the writer published in 1941, Reenstierna added a short note (1), together with a plate, on its use in staining leprosy bacilli in nasal smears, films of blood, and sections of lepromata. As was the case with tubercle bacilli, the bacilli of leprosy were found to take a dark-blue color, to appear larger and more disti...

DIFFERENTIATION OF LEPROSY AND TUBERCLE BACILLI. 219 On the Differentiation of Leprosy and Tubercle Bacilli