There are theories that armadillos played a significant role in the spread of leprosy. However, experts have divided opinion about this matter.
What Disease Do Armadillos Carry?
A generous, well-mannered mammal could be the key to a medical enigma developing in Florida. Experts speculate that increased leprosy cases spread domestically could be related to the nine-banded armadillo.
However, another group was quick to defend the armored critter and claimed that there was little evidence to suggest that armadillos, known to carry the leprosy-causing virus, were the cause of the increase.
Dr. Jessica Fairley of Emory University School of Medicine believes that human-armadillo contact might be a contributing factor. Fairley teaches both medicine and global health.
"This uptick in Florida is telling us this isn't like some outbreak," said Fairley, the Hansen's Disease Program Director at Emory University Hospital Midtown. "We need to look at our environmental health and how we interact with the environment."
However, that theory doesn't sit well with Brett DeGregorio, a wildlife biologist with Michigan State University's USGS Michigan Cooperative Research Unit. Armadillos do not play much of a role for him but are scapegoated for the leprosy outbreak.
Leprosy, commonly known as Hansen's sickness, has been the subject of a decades-long argument that resurfaces every time health officials report a new case. Despite this, scientists have not made much headway in determining how the disease is spread.
In the meantime, specialists notice that domestic cases of leprosy are increasing, and they are eager to find out if the prehistoric-looking creatures are to blame for the armadillos' continuous northward expansion, which they attribute in part to climate change.
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Why Armadillos Are Linked To Leprosy?
The leading cause of leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is Mycobacterium leprae. In addition to humans, natural infections in animals like armadillos and mangabey monkeys have been documented. Leprosy is a worldwide health issue; its exact etiology is still unknown. Since leprosy cannot grow in artificial medium, armadillos are now the main model used in experiments to simulate human disease, including the peripheral nervous system involvement.
Transmission of leprosy happens when susceptible individuals are in close, ongoing contact with untreated sick individuals. However, contact with armadillos is a risk factor for leprosy, and leprosy-affected individuals have reported unknown leprosy contact. Leprosy is classified as a zoonosis in the USA, and Brazil has just lately come to agree with this categorization.
According to one study, some species and armadillos are susceptible to M. leprae infection and are naturally infected. In North America, where armadillos are considered a reservoir of Hansen's bacillus, the strains of M. leprae have been found in nearly two-thirds of the autochthonous human leprosy cases in Southern USA.
The interaction between armadillos and M. leprae will cause animals living in the same area to develop various natural resistances, which inherited and individual variables will heavily influence. Certain vulnerable armadillos from South America, including D. hybridus and E. sexcinctus, haven't been found in North America.
The first known case of leprae infection in free-ranging armadillos in the USA was observed in 1975, and in Brazil, it was followed in 2002. Over the past five years, there has been a significant surge in interest in spontaneous infection in armadillos, and there is still much to learn about the disease in Brazil. Research on natural leprosy in armadillos has turned to E. sexcinctus, and investigations into this zoonosis in Brazil should concentrate on this species.
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