Lack of evidence for the presence of leprosy bacilli in red squirrels from North‐West Europe

Tió-Coma, Maria; Sprong, Hein; Kik, Marja; Dissel, Jaap T. van; Han, Xiang Y.; Pieters, Toine; Geluk, Annemieke

doi:10.1111/tbed.13423

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…[67] Tió-Coma et al (2020) examined sixty-one red squirrels and one Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis) from the Netherlands and fifty-three red squirrels from Flanders, Belgium for the presence of lesions and M. leprae and M. lepromatosis DNA. [68] No clinical signs of leprosy were observed. All samples were negative in PCR analysis.…”

Section: Plos Neglected Tropical Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Reservoirs and transmission routes of leprosy; A systematic review

et al. 2020

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Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) and the more recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis (M. lepromatosis). The two leprosy bacilli cause similar pathologic conditions. They primarily target the skin and the peripheral nervous system. Currently it is considered a Neglected Tropical Disease, being endemic in specific locations within countries of the Americas, Asia, and Africa, while in Europe it is only rarely reported. The reason for a spatial inequality in the prevalence of leprosy in so-called endemic pockets within a country is still largely unexplained. A systematic review was conducted targeting leprosy transmission research data, using PubMed and Scopus as sources. Publications between January 1, 1945 and July 1, 2019 were included. The transmission pathways of M. leprae are not fully understood. Solid evidence exists of an increased risk for individuals living in close contact with leprosy patients, most likely through infectious aerosols, created by coughing and sneezing, but possibly also through direct contact. However, this systematic review underscores that human-to-human transmission is not the only way leprosy can be acquired. The transmission of this disease is probably much more complicated than was thought before. In the Americas, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has been established as another natural host and reservoir of M. leprae. Anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission have both been proposed as modes of contracting the disease, based on data showing identical M. leprae strains shared between humans and armadillos. More recently, in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) with leprosy-like lesions in the British Isles M. leprae and M. lepromatosis DNA was detected. This finding was unexpected, because leprosy is considered a disease of humans (with the exception of the armadillo), and because it was thought that leprosy (and M. leprae) had disappeared from the United Kingdom. Furthermore, animals can be affected by other leprosy-like diseases, caused by pathogens phylogenetically closely related to M. leprae. These mycobacteria have been proposed to be grouped as a M. leprae-complex. We argue that insights from the transmission and reservoirs of members of the M. leprae-complex might be relevant for leprosy research. A better understanding of possible animal or environmental reservoirs is needed, because transmission from such reservoirs may partly explain the steady PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

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Section: Plos Neglected Tropical Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Reservoirs and transmission routes of leprosy; A systematic review

et al. 2020

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“…Mycobacterium leprae and the more recently discovered Mycobacterium lepromatosis (Han et al, 2008) are the causative agents of leprosy in humans as well as animals (Truman et al, 2011; Sharma et al, 2015; Avanzi et al, 2016; Honap et al, 2018; Schilling et al, 2019b; Tio-Coma et al, 2019). Leprosy is a complex infectious disease often resulting in severe, life-long disabilities and still poses a serious health threat in low-and middle income countries (WHO, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The limited variation observed in the M. leprae genome permits the reconstruction of historic human migration patterns and the origin of M. leprae (Donoghue, 2019). Over the years, several studies have contributed to the detection and characterization of M. leprae genomes originating from patients all around the world (Monot et al, 2005; Monot et al, 2009; Benjak et al, 2018) as well as from ancient skeletons (Suzuki et al, 2010; Schuenemann et al, 2013; Mendum et al, 2014; Krause-Kyora et al, 2018; Schuenemann et al, 2018), red squirrels (Avanzi et al, 2016; Schilling et al, 2019a; Tio-Coma et al, 2019), armadillos (Truman et al, 2011; Sharma et al, 2015), non-human primates (Honap et al, 2018) and soil (Lavania et al, 2006; Lavania et al, 2008; Turankar et al, 2012; Turankar et al, 2014; Turankar et al, 2016; Tió-Coma et al, 2019; Turankar et al, 2019). Moreover, skeleton remains have been successfully applied to retrospectively assess whether individuals who contributed to the care of leprosy patients such as the priest Petrus Donders, had developed leprosy (Van Dissel et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of new Mycobacterium leprae subtype in Bangladesh by genomic characterization to explore transmission patterns

Tió-Coma

Avanzi

Verhard

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, is an unculturable bacterium with a considerably reduced genome (3.27 Mb) compared to homologues mycobacteria from the same ancestry. M. leprae transmission is suggested to occur through aerosols but the exact mechanisms of infection remains unclear. In 2001, the genome of M. leprae was first described and subsequently four genotypes (1-4) and 16 subtypes (A-P) were identified providing means to study global transmission patterns for leprosy. We investigated M. leprae carriage as well as infection in leprosy patients (n=60) and healthy household contacts (HHC; n=250) from Bangladesh using molecular detection of the bacterial element RLEP in nasal swabs (NS) and slit skin smears (SSS). In parallel, we explored bacterial strain diversity by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and Sanger sequencing. In the studied cohort in Bangladesh, M. leprae DNA was detected in 33.3% of NS and 22.2% of SSS of patients with bacillary index of 0 whilst in HHC 18.0% of NS and 12.3% of SSS were positive. The majority of the M. leprae strains detected in this study belonged to genotype 1D (55%), followed by 1A (31%). Importantly, WGS allowed the identification of a new M. leprae genotype, designated 1B-Bangladesh (14%), which clustered separately between the 1A and 1B strains. Moreover, we established that the genotype previously designated 1C, is not an independent subtype but clusters within the 1D genotype. Intraindividual differences were present between the M. leprae strains obtained including mutations in hypermutated genes, suggesting mixed colonization/infection or in-host evolution. In summary, we observed that M. leprae is present in asymptomatic contacts of leprosy patients fueling the concept that these individuals contribute to the current intensity of transmission. Our data therefore emphasize the importance of sensitive and specific tools allowing post-exposure prophylaxis targeted at M. leprae-infected or -colonized individuals.

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“…Leprosy infection has not been detected in squirrels in other parts of Europe. 40,41 Therefore, red squirrels appear to be a reservoir of infection in the British Isles, although current inter-and intra-species transmission patterns are unknown. Red squirrels are not currently being used as leprosy research models, primarily because of their protected species status.…”

Section: Chick Embryosmentioning

confidence: 99%