Abstract
Nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae and have been implicated in zoonotic transmission of leprosy. Early studies found this disease mainly in Texas and Louisiana, but armadillos in the southeastern United States appeared to be free of infection. We screened 645 armadillos from 8 locations in the southeastern United States not known to harbor enzootic leprosy for M. leprae DNA and antibodies. We found M. leprae-infected armadillos at each location, and 106 (16.4%) animals had serologic/PCR evidence of infection. Using single-nucleotide polymorphism variable number tandem repeat genotyping/genome sequencing, we detected M. leprae genotype 3I-2-v1 among 35 armadillos. Seven armadillos harbored a newly identified genotype (3I-2-v15). In comparison, 52 human patients from the same region were infected with 31 M. leprae types. However, 42.3% (22/52) of patients were infected with 1 of the 2 M. leprae genotype strains associated with armadillos. The geographic range and complexity of zoonotic leprosy is expanding.
Highlights
Nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae and have been implicated in zoonotic transmission of leprosy
Expanded Geographic Range of M. leprae Infection among Armadillos We screened blood and tissue samples to determine the prevalence of M. leprae infection among 645 armadillos obtained at 8 locations in the southeastern United States we again found no serologic reactivity, which confirmed the earlier findings
We detected antibodies to M. leprae−specific antigens at each location and in 16.4% (106/645) of all the samples screened: 10.1% (65/645) had antibodies to phenolic glycolipid-1 (PGL1), and 9.9% (64/645) had antibodies to leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (LID1)
Summary
Nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae and have been implicated in zoonotic transmission of leprosy. Studies found this disease mainly in Texas and Louisiana, but armadillos in the southeastern United States appeared to be free of infection. Approximately one third of all case-patients in the United States report no foreign residence history or known contact with another person who had leprosy. They probably acquired the disease from local sources [1]. In recent times, the geographic range of the infection seems to be expanding [16]
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