Souguel S, Oueslati T, Grine G, Drancourt M
IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.
MEPHI, Aix-Marseille Université, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.
One Health. 2025 Jun 19;21:101114. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101114. eCollection 2025 Dec.
In the United Kingdom, the declining population of the red squirrel, the acknowledged historical reservoir for zoonotic leprosy, is thought to have been behind the decline in leprosy. However, remaining red squirrels are mainly plagued by role in zoonotic leprosy dynamics. To resolve this issue, forthcoming paleomicrobiology studies will address the complex as a whole; investigating the remains of squirrels buried for eight centuries, and burrowing animals imported in the United Kingdom from the British Empire countries between the 16th and 19th centuries; also looking at the situation in continental Europe, to gain a more comprehensive view of the historical zoonotic dynamics of leprosy in the United Kingdom and Europe. The results may indicate that the declining red squirrel population is no more than a red herring, obscuring a broader decline in leprosy.
在英国，红松鼠数量不断减少，而红松鼠被公认为是动物源性麻风病的历史宿主，人们认为这是麻风病发病率下降的原因。然而，现存的红松鼠主要受到动物源性麻风病动态变化中其他因素的困扰。为解决这一问题，即将开展的古微生物学研究将从整体上探讨这一复杂情况；研究埋葬了八个世纪的松鼠遗骸，以及16至19世纪从大英帝国国家引入英国的穴居动物；同时也会考察欧洲大陆的情况，以便更全面地了解英国和欧洲麻风病的历史动物源性动态变化。研究结果可能表明，红松鼠数量的减少只不过是一个转移注意力的因素，掩盖了麻风病更广泛的下降趋势。
