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In medieval England, humans lived in much closer quarters with red squirrels than most of us do today. And that's not just because squirrel fur was the most widely-use for garment trimmings in the High and Late Middle Ages – they were also kept as pets.
Human remains with genetic markers of leprosy were an easy find, buried in the yard of St Mary Magdalen's. Genetic analysis on 25 human bones, some with lesions and some without, were used to create a reference for medieval strains ofRed squirrel remains were found at Staple Gardens, an historic street in the city's center just two miles west of the leprosarium. Many kinds of animal foot bones were buried at what was once a medieval furrier.
"The medieval red squirrel strain we recovered is more closely related to medieval human strains from the same city than to strains isolated from infected modern red squirrels,"
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In medieval England, leprosy spread between red squirrels and people, genome evidence showsEvidence 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 people, researchers report in the journal Current Biology.
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Leprosy in Medieval England Probably Came From Red SquirrelsArchaeological evidence suggests the fluffy rodents were hosts of leprosy-causing bacteria.
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Medieval Squirrels Served as First Ancient Hosts of LeprosyAcorns weren’t the only thing that medieval squirrels stashed away. They also hoarded strains of leprosy.
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