Armadillo's carry Leprosy

[spyder]

I just read an interesting article that says that armadillos here in the states, carry Leprosy that can be transfered to humans.... Don't people eat these?

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1010536

Whole-genome resequencing of M. leprae from one wild armadillo and three U.S. patients with leprosy revealed that the infective strains were essentially identical. Comparative genomic analysis of these strains and M. leprae strains from Asia and Brazil identified 51 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and an 11-bp insertion–deletion. We genotyped these polymorphic sites, in combination with 10 variable-number tandem repeats, in M. leprae strains obtained from 33 wild armadillos from five southern states, 50 U.S. outpatients seen at a clinic in Louisiana, and 64 Venezuelan patients, as well as in four foreign reference strains...

The M. leprae genotype of patients with foreign exposure generally reflected their country of origin or travel history. However, a unique M. leprae genotype (3I-2-v1) was found in 28 of the 33 wild armadillos and 25 of the 39 U.S. patients who resided in areas where exposure to armadillo-borne M. leprae was possible. This genotype has not been reported elsewhere in the world...

[HoneyBadger]

SHOOT ON SIGHT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! etc.



ETA: Is my post showing up first to anyone else?

[spyder]

SHOOT ON SIGHT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! etc.



ETA: Is my post showing up first to anyone else?

Ya, me... lol

[Ronin13]

Ya, me... lol

Same... strange... Maybe Honey Badger has a DeLorean?

[Teufelhund]

I thought one had to be genetically-predisposed to leprosy in order to catch it.

[spyder]

I thought one had to be genetically-predisposed to leprosy in order to catch it.

It's caused by bacteria, so any way that you can get sick from bacteria, you can get leprosy.

[Teufelhund]

It's caused by bacteria, so any way that you can get sick from bacteria, you can get leprosy.

This article is a bit over my head, but it does suggest there's some gray area. Of course, I'm just a computer nerd, so what I think I know about most things is just unverifiable crap found on the interwebs.

The ancient disease of leprosy can cause severe disability and disfigurement and is still a major health concern in many parts of the world. Only a subset of those individuals exposed to the pathogen will go on to develop clinical disease and there is a broad clinical spectrum amongst leprosy sufferers. The outcome of infection is in part due to host genes that influence control of the initial infection and the host's immune response to that infection. Identification of the host genes that influence host susceptibility/resistance will enable a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis. In turn, this should facilitate development of more effective therapeutics and vaccines. So far at least a dozen genes have been implicated in leprosy susceptibility and a genome-wide linkage study has lead to the identification of at least one positional candidate. These findings are reviewed here.

[spyder]

This article is a bit over my head, but it does suggest there's some gray area. Of course, I'm just a computer nerd, so what I think I know about most things is just unverifiable crap found on the interwebs.

In that article, they are just trying to come up with answers to figure out a link to use to find a cure, it is just a small study. Here's a quote from it:

Many of the associations, have only been found in a small series of patients, or in a single population

The immune system is a complex thing. Person A might get sick from something that person B doesn't have a problem with. This is always a case. The bottom line is, Leprosy is caused by a bacteria, strep is also a bacteria, and so is E-coli. Now strep and E-coli, are two bacterias that we come in contact with every day, the thing is though, most of us have an immune system that can handle the daily dose with ease. It's only when we get big doses of either, or have a compromised immune system, that we get sick from it (or a combo of both). Now... Leprosy is something that isn't all that normal, if you come around it... who knows what your immune system will do.

[alan0269]

SHOOT ON SIGHT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! etc.



ETA: Is my post showing up first to anyone else?

Be very careful! Honey Badgers have been known to carry rabies, feline parvo-virus, and canine distemper!!!

[Troublco]

Be very careful! Honey Badgers have been known to carry rabies, feline parvo-virus, and canine distemper!!!

Not to mention fleas, ticks, and a nasty temper!

There are antibiotics available for use on Leprosy, although I didn't research them much.