Armadillos linked to leprosy in South

LOS ANGELES -- With some genetic sleuthing, scientists have fingered a likely culprit in the spread of leprosy in the southern United States: the nine-banded armadillo.

DNA tests show a match in the leprosy strain between some patients and these prehistoric-looking critters, a connection scientists had suspected.

"Now we have the link," said James Krahenbuhl, who heads a government leprosy program that led the new study.

Only about 150 leprosy cases occur each year in the United States, mostly among travelers to places like India, Brazil and Angola, where it's more common. The risk of getting leprosy from an armadillo is low because most people who get exposed don't get sick with the ancient scourge, known medically as Hansen's disease and now easily treatable.

Armadillos are one of the very few mammals that harbor the bacteria that cause the sometimes disfiguring disease, which first shows up as an unusual lumpy skin lesion.

Researchers at the National Hansen's Disease Programs in Baton Rouge, La., led an international team of scientists who published their findings in today's New England Journal of Medicine. They think it requires frequent handling of armadillos or eating their meat for leprosy to spread.

DNA samples were taken from 33 wild armadillos in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, where they're sometimes referred to as "hillbilly speed bumps" because they're often run over by cars.

Scientists also took skin biopsies from 50 leprosy patients being treated at a Baton Rouge clinic. Three-quarters had never had foreign exposure, but lived in Southern states where they could have been exposed to armadillos.

An analysis found that samples from the patients and armadillos were genetically similar to each other and were different from leprosy strains found elsewhere in the world. The unique strain was found in 28 armadillos and 25 patients.

Of the 15 patients for whom researchers had information, seven said they had no contact with armadillos; eight said they did, including one who routinely hunted and ate them.

If left untreated, leprosy can cause nerve damage so severe that people lose feeling in their fingers and toes, leading to deformity and disability.