Leprosy is an ancient disease, once feared, and handled by isolating those infected into colonies away from healthy people. Today it is treatable and patients with the disease are handled in much more humane ways. Strange though it may seem, armadillos are the only animals, besides humans to host the leprosy bacteria, being naturally infected.
Armadillos are a New World mammal, and while they originated in South America, two species, the northern naked-tailed armadillo, and nine-banded armadillo have extended their ranges into Central America and Mexico. The nine-banded armadillo has reached into the central and southern portions of the U.S., and now is found from Florida and South Carolina in the East, to as far north as Nebraska and central Indiana.
Citing the number of cases in Florida, Smithsonian Magazine reported in March this year that in 2011, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine formally linked armadillos to human Leprosy cases in Florida. People and armadillos in the study both shared the exact same strain of the disease.
According to USA Today, the Florida Department of Health deputy press secretary Brad Dalton said in an email that “Hansen’s disease, formerly known as leprosy, is caused by Mycobacterium leprae bacteria,” which has also been found in nine-banded armadillos.
According to the health department, an average of two to 10 cases of Leprosy are seen every year in Florida. The most recent cases occurred in Volusia and Flagler County. It was also noted that each case this year involved people making direct contact with an armadillo. The mode of transmission is through saliva, and can include respiratory droplets in people living in close contact with an infected person.
“Although the mode of transmission of Hansen’s disease is not clearly defined, most investigators believe that (Hansen’s) is usually spread person-to-person in respiratory droplets following extended close contact with an infected person, such as living in the same household,” said Dalton.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says while it is possible to pick up the Leprosy bacteria from an armadillo, the risk is very small. “Extended close contact with infected armadillos may also pose exposure risk to (Hansen’s). For many cases, the exposure causing the infection is unknown because it can take months or years for illness to develop,” Dalton added.
Even so, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the CDC and the Health Department all say it is best to leave armadillos alone. They are wild animals, and, “generally, you don’t want to be playing with wild animals anyway,” Dalton said.
Before anyone decides to go on an armadillo hunt, keep this in mind: Fully 95 percent of people are resistant to the Leprosy bacteria, and the risk to humans is actually very low. Not only that, but the disease is easily treatable today. Treatment consists of a multiple-drug regimen that can last from six months to two years, according to the CDC.
