Leprosy in wild armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) on the Texas Gulf Coast: anatomic pathology.

Abstract

Recent studies of the "naturally occurring leprosy-like disease of wild armadillos" establish that the causative bacillus is genetically identical to M. leprae from human sources, and thus the disease is a zoonosis, sylvatic leprosy. A recent survey of 451 wild armadillos from the Texas Gulf Coast demonstrated sylvatic leprosy in 4.66%. This companion study reports the anatomic pathologic changes seen in the 17 leprous and 17 nonleprous armadillos necropsied in that survey. Findings support previous studies on the histopathology and pathogenesis of sylvatic leprosy, but a broader spectrum of histologic changes are noted.