Could squirrel fur trade have contributed to England’s medieval leprosy outbreak?

Genetic analysis of a pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in 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. The authors of the new study suggest that an explanation for the prevalence of leprosy in medieval East Anglia may possibly be found in the sustained Scandinavian trade in squirrel fur — an animal known to carry the disease.
Strange & Offbeat: Fossils & Ruins News — ScienceDaily