Could Squirrel trade have contributed to England’s medieval leprosy outbreak?
Genetic analysis of a pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk, has added to a growing body of evidence that East Anglia may have been the epicentre of an epidemic of leprosy that spread through medieval England.
Leprosy is likely to have had a severe impact on the Woman' from Hoxne's life. CREDIT Dr Sarah Inskip
Genetic analysis of a pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk, has added to a growing body of evidence that East Anglia may have been the epicentre of an epidemic of leprosy that spread through medieval England.
A strain of the disease may have been brought to East Anglia’s coast line through contact with Scandinavia via Anglo-Saxon movement or possibly the later sustained trade in squirrel fur, the new study suggests.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2017/10/squirrel-trade-contributed-englands-medieval-leprosy-outbreak/117161
