
Armadillos Can Transmit Leprosy to Humans
The nine-banded armadillo is one of the few non-human animals that naturally carries Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium that causes leprosy. In the southern United States, contact with wild armadillos has been identified as a source of human leprosy cases. Armadillos have low body temperatures that make them ideal hosts for the bacterium.