The DNA of leprosy-causing bacteria has been found in the remains of people and a red squirrel unearthed at medieval sites in the UK. This makes red squirrels the earliest known non-human hosts of ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

"With our genetic analysis we were able to identify red squirrels as the first ancient animal host of leprosy," says senior author Verena Schuenemann of the University of Basel in Switzerland.

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 ...