Table_1_British Red Squirrels Remain the Only Known Wild Rodent Host for Leprosy Bacilli.XLSX

Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the British Isles are the most recently discovered animal reservoir for the leprosy bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Initial data suggest that prevalence of leprosy infection is variable and often low in different squirrel populations. Nothing is known about the presence of leprosy bacilli in other wild squirrel species despite two others (Siberian chipmunk [Tamias sibiricus], and Thirteen-lined ground squirrel [Ictidomys tridecemlineatus]) having been reported to be susceptible to experimental infection with M. leprae. Rats, a food-source in some countries where human leprosy occurs, have been suggested as potential reservoirs for leprosy bacilli, but no evidence supporting this hypothesis is currently available. We screened 301 squirrel samples covering four species [96 Eurasian red squirrels, 67 Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), 35 Siberian chipmunks, and 103 Pallas's squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus)] from Europe and 72 Mexican white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) for the presence of M. leprae and M. lepromatosis using validated PCR protocols. No DNA from leprosy bacilli was detected in any of the samples tested. Given our sample-size, the pathogen should have been detected if the prevalence and/or bacillary load in the populations investigated were similar to those found for British red squirrels.

欧亚红松鼠（Sciurus vulgaris）在英伦诸岛是最近发现的麻风杆菌Mycobacterium leprae和Mycobacterium lepromatosis的动物宿主。初步数据显示，麻风感染的流行率在不同松鼠种群中存在差异且通常较低。尽管有关于两种其他动物（西伯利亚花栗鼠[Tamias sibiricus]和十三线地松鼠[Ictidomys tridecemlineatus]）已被报道可能对M. leprae的实验性感染易感的报道，但关于其他野生松鼠物种中麻风杆菌的存在尚一无所知。在一些人类麻风病流行的国家，由于松鼠是食物来源，因此鼠类被建议为麻风杆菌的潜在宿主，但截至目前，尚无证据支持这一假设。我们使用经过验证的PCR方案，对来自欧洲的301份松鼠样本（包括96只欧亚红松鼠、67只东部灰松鼠[Sciurus carolinensis]、35只西伯利亚花栗鼠和103只帕拉斯松鼠[Callosciurus erythraeus]）以及72只墨西哥白喉木鼠（Neotoma albigula）进行了M. leprae和M. lepromatosis存在的筛查。在所测试的样本中，未检测到麻风杆菌的DNA。鉴于我们的样本量，如果调查人群中病原体的流行率和/或菌载量与英国红松鼠中发现的相似，那么病原体应当已经被检测到。