Which animals get leprosy

And as for armadillos—the risk of transmission to humans is low. Only the nine-banded armadillo is known to carry the disease.

And, most people in the U. And it looks like armadillos are the real victims here. Scientists believe that we actually transmitted leprosy to them about to years ago. Because they were the only animal other than humans in which the bacteria could be isolated, armadillos allowed scientists to study leprosy and possible treatments.

Now, there are millions of armadillos in the southern U. In certain areas, people hunted them to serve at barbecues. All of this exposure eventually had consequences. In , Dr. In , another study from the same group found that a different strain type that existed only in central Florida was causing a second cluster of cases in armadillos and humans.

Both of these reports caused a huge amount of media coverage, with people being somewhat surprised and alarmed that this ungainly and not very cuddly animal was transmitting the oldest and one of the most feared diseases to humans. Still, once the excitement died down, most people probably resumed their behaviors with these animals, ignoring the possible risks involved. Two things stand out about Brazil. Armadillos are native to South America; and leprosy, first brought to Brazil over years ago by the European explorers and through the slave trade from West Africa, has been widespread there for hundreds of years.

Duthie, Maria T. Pena, Luis A. Marcos, David M. Scollard, Stewart T. Cole, Richard W. Center for Disease Control, Dec. Truman, Richard W. New England Journal of Medicine, 28 Apr. Home Experts Topics.

What is leprosy and how does it spread? Leprosy in armadillos Nine-banded armadillos are the only known natural hosts of leprosy besides humans. Figure 1. Nine-banded armadillo. Figure 2. The red line indicates armadillo range limit in the southeastern United States, and the yellow circles are locations where armadillos have been found positive for leprosy as of In , researchers found armadillos positive for leprosy in south Mississippi, south Alabama, south Georgia, and north and east Florida.

Sign Up. Already a subscriber? Want more? More From Discover. Recommendations From Our Store. Stay Curious. View our privacy policy.