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EVANSVILLE – Armadillos are spreading into Indiana.The disease they bring with them, though, could take a long time to get here. The squat, sharp-clawed mammals are confirmed carriers of ...
What diseases do they carry? Yes. Nine-banded armadillos can carry leprosy, which can be transmitted to people, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Armadillos can carry rabies (though rarely) and the bacteriumMycobacterium leprae which causes leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. “There are a handful of cases annually of people in the ...
Infected armadillos make up a large reservoir of M. leprae and may be a source of infection for some humans in the United States or other locations in the armadillos' home range. In armadillo leprosy, lesions do not persist at the site of entry in animals; M. leprae multiply in macrophages at the site of inoculation and lymph nodes. [189]
The disease may also be spread through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, consuming food or drink contaminated with the parasites, and vertical transmission (from a mother to her baby). [1] Diagnosis of early disease is by finding the parasite in the blood using a microscope or detecting its DNA by polymerase chain reaction. [4]
[27] [28] Armadillos are a presumed vector and natural reservoir for the disease in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. [29] [30] Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th century, leprosy was unknown in the New World. Given that armadillos are native to the New World, at some point they must have acquired the disease from old-world humans ...
A genetic study at the National Hansen’s Disease Program reported armadillos may be a source of infection. In the southern United States, some armadillos are naturally infected with the bacteria ...
In armadillos, Mycobacterium leprae causes a disseminated infection with similar structural and pathological changes in tissues and nerves. [ 47 ] In squirrels, according the to Veterinary Pathology Unit of the University of Edinburgh , " The disease is unmistakeable: there is gross swelling and loss of hair around the snout, lips, eyelids ...