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Yes, an Armadillo Can Give You Leprosy

Posted by timothy on from the wear-a-saddle-every-time dept.

sciencehabit writes "For years, scientists have speculated that armadillos can pass on leprosy to humans, and that they are behind the few dozen cases of the disease that occur in the US every year. Now, they have evidence. A genetic study published in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that US armadillos and human patients share what seems to be a unique strain of the bacterium that causes leprosy. If an armadillo's blood 'got on my tires of my car from running [the animal] over, I would wash it down,' advises one expert. 'And I would not dig in soil that has a lot of armadillo excrement.'"

2 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Hellfire by aapold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Damn you Lord Foul! Must you corrupt these beautiful creatures and turn them into servants of despite?

    --
    "Waste not one watt!" - CZ
  2. Re:Cool! We've never had a chiropractic troll befo by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Slashdot is one of the more rational and skeptical sites on the Internet.

    Have you any idea how much it scares me that this is true?

    --
    Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.