Red Squirrels 'immune to virus' - report

6:10pm Wednesday 15th October 2008

A number of red squirrels have been found with immunity to the deadly squirrelpox virus, scientists said today.

The discovery provides a “first sign of hope” for the native species which is threatened with extinction by the disease, the researchers said.

Post-mortem tests carried out on red squirrels found eight animals which had antibodies to squirrelpox and, instead of succumbing to the disease, had fought it off and died of different causes.

Until the discovery it seemed that all red squirrels which contracted squirrelpox - which is spread by their grey cousins - died from the virus.

The find could mean the disease and the squirrels are evolving so that it becomes less deadly, and also raises the possibility of developing a vaccine to protect the native mammal.

Dr Anthony Sainsbury, lecturer in wild animal health at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said the finding was “the first sign of hope in the long struggle to save the species from extinction in the UK”.

Scientists have been running a surveillance scheme for red squirrels for 15 years since it became apparent in the early 1990s that the squirrelpox virus was having a significant effect on the population.

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