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The answer, unfortunately, is yes. The most well-known disease carried by armadillos is leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. Researchers have discovered that armadillos are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium responsible for leprosy. However, it’s important to clarify that not all armadillos carry this disease.
In the southern United States, some armadillos are naturally infected with the bacteria that cause Hansen’s disease in people and it may be possible that they can spread it to people. However, the risk is very low and most people who come into contact with armadillos are unlikely to get Hansen’s disease.
Jun 29, 2018 · An international team led by researchers at Colorado State University has found that human contact with wild armadillos — including eating the meat — has contributed to extremely high infection rates of a pathogen that can cause leprosy in Pará, Brazil.
Apr 27, 2011 · Now, they have evidence. A genetic study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that U.S. armadillos and human patients share what seems to be a unique strain of the bacterium that causes leprosy. Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease after the physician who first described it, attacks the skin and the nerves.
Apr 27, 2011 · Because the bacterium that causes leprosy cannot be grown in lab dishes, finding that the armadillo could also carry the disease proved to be a boon to researchers bent on finding new...
[Sarah Gregory] Nine-banded armadillos are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae and have been implicated in zoonotic transmission of leprosy. Early studies found the disease mainly in Texas and Louisiana, but armadillos in the southwestern United States appeared to be free of infection.
Jun 28, 2018 · In a study published Thursday in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, researchers found that 62 percent of the nine-banded armadillos sampled in Brazil’s western state of Pará showed...
