Armadillos and Disease Study (Leprosy and Chagas Disease)
When most people think of armadillos, they think of their cute little accordion shells. But scientists have been given something new to think about when it comes to everyone’s favorite armored mammals – leprosy. A study performed earlier this year by the New England Journal of Medicine has given some credibility to the old stories of people contracting rashes and leprosy after handling armadillos. This study took 33 wild armadillos and 50 human leprosy patients. 25 patients and 28 armadillos had the same strain of the disease present in their bodies, and 8 of the 25 patients could recall recent contact with an armadillo. Oddly enough, armadillos are the only animals aside from humans who are known to carry the disease naturally (though others can become infected).
As if that weren’t enough, it turns out armadillos are also natural carriers of Chagas disease, a parasitic disease that causes damage to the cardiac, nervous, and digestive systems over time. This is most commonly spread from mammal to mammal through bloodsucking insects, due to the injections most of these insects employ before drinking.
Still, there’s no reason why we can’t admire the little Roly-Poly guys. Let’s just keep our distance from them.
Posted in