Emerging Infectious Diseases (Dec 2024)

Mycobacterium leprae in Nine-Banded Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), Ecuador

  • Daniel Romero-Alvarez,
  • Manuel Calvopiña,
  • Emily Cisneros-Vásquez,
  • Daniel Garzon-Chavez,
  • Alaine K. Warren,
  • Lauren S. Bennett,
  • Ritika R. Janapati,
  • Carlos Bastidas-Caldes,
  • Melanie Cabezas-Moreno,
  • Jacobus H. de Waard,
  • Daniela Silva-Martinod,
  • Roxane Schaub,
  • Mary Jackson,
  • A. Townsend Peterson,
  • Charlotte Avanzi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3012.231143
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 30, no. 12
pp. 2629 – 2632

Abstract

Read online

We found Mycobacterium leprae, the most common etiologic agent of Hansen disease or leprosy, in tissues from 9 (18.75%) of 48 nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) collected across continental Ecuador. Finding evidence of a wildlife reservoir is the first step to recognizing leprosy zoonotic transmission pathway in Ecuador or elsewhere.

Keywords