Ancient Skeleton Reveals How Leprosy Spread from Scandinavia to Great Britain

An ancient skeleton is telling archaeologists how leprosy spread across the world. They've discovered remains that suggest that leprosy may have travelled to Britain from Scandinavia.

The findings come from a male skeleton that's about 1,500 years old. It was excavated at Great Chesterford in Essex, England during the 1950s and shows changes consistent with leprosy. The man, who was probably in his 20s when he died, has bones that narrow at the toes and show damage in his joints.

"Not all cases of leprosy can be identified by changes to the skeleton," said Sonia Zakrzewski, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Some may leave no trace on the bones; others will affect bones in a similar way to other diseases. In these cases the only way to be sure is to use DNA fingerprinting, or other chemical markers characteristic of the leprosy bacillus."

The researchers tested the skeleton for bacterial DNA and lipid biomarkers to confirm that the man had definitely had leprosy. They also carried out a detailed genetic study of the bacteria that caused his illness.

"Not every excavation yields good quality DNA, but in this case, leprosy DNA isolated from the skeleton was so good in enabled us to identify its strain," said Mike Taylor, one of the researchers.

In fact, the scientists determined that the leprosy strain belonged to a lineage which had previously been found in burials from Medieval Scandinavia and southern Britain. Because it originates from a much earlier period, the researchers believe that leprosy may have spread from Scandinavia to Britain.

"The radiocarbon date confirms this is one of the earliest cases in the UK to have been successfully studied with modern biomolecular methods," said Sarah Inskip, one of the researchers. "This is exciting both for archaeologists and for microbiologists. It helps us understand the spread of disease in the past, and also the evolution of different strains of disease, which might help us fight them in the future. We plan to carry out similar studies on skeletons from different locatiosn to build up a more complete picture of the origins and early spread of the disease."

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

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