Emerging Infectious Diseases (Mar 2022)

Mycobacterium leprae Infection in a Wild Nine-Banded Armadillo, Nuevo León, Mexico

  • Lucio Vera-Cabrera,
  • Cesar J. Ramos-Cavazos,
  • Nathan A. Youssef,
  • Camron M. Pearce,
  • Carmen A. Molina-Torres,
  • Ramiro Avalos-Ramirez,
  • Sebastien Gagneux,
  • Jorge Ocampo-Candiani,
  • Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero,
  • Jorge A. Mayorga-Rodriguez,
  • Leonardo Mayorga-Garibaldi,
  • John S. Spencer,
  • Mary Jackson,
  • Charlotte Avanzi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2803.211295
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 28, no. 3
pp. 747 – 749

Abstract

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Nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) are naturally infected with Mycobacterium leprae and are implicated in the zoonotic transmission of leprosy in the United States. In Mexico, the existence of such a reservoir remains to be characterized. We describe a wild armadillo infected by M. leprae in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico.

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