Leprosy bacteria infect more than half of armadillos analyzed by scientists

A new study conducted in Brazil by an international group of scientists reveals that in Western Pará 62% of armadillos are infected with the bacteria that cause leprosy – a contagious disease that can cause serious damage to the nerves and skin .

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Brazil has the second highest number of leprosy cases in the world. In 2016, 25,218 new cases were diagnosed. Only India recorded a greater number of new cases recorded that year: 135,485 According to the authors of the research, published in the scientific journal Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases we already know that Brazil accounts for 92.2% of leprosy cases in South America.

that armadillos ( Dasypus novemcinctus ) can transmit to humans Mycobacterium leprae bacillus causing leprosy, from cases reported in the southern United States.

Although there is no evidence that the armadillo is a natural reservoir for the transmission of leprosy in Brazil, according to the authors of the study, the presence of bacilli in the worries animals, because part of the population of the Brazilian Amazon has the habit of hunting the armadillo, which makes

According to one of the authors of the study, John Spencer, from Colorado State University (USA), the group of scientists investigated the presence of armadillos in western Pará and did genetic tests. with DNA extracted from 16 armadillos captured by local hunters.

The 16 armadillos studied were hunted in the forests around two Belterra communities: São Jorge and Corpus Christi. In parallel, the team also studied a group of locals in the area to find out the extent and frequency of their interactions with armadillos. According to Spencer, of the 16 armadillos studied, ten were infected with M.

According to Spencer, of the 16 armadillos studied, ten had leprosy. leprae . Of the 146 people tested, seven patients were diagnosed with leprosy. But 92 subjects – or 63% of the population examined – were tested positive for antibodies against the bacteria. According to the scientist, this suggests that most of the population has already been exposed to M. lprae .

The study also showed that individuals who consume armadillo meat more frequently – at least once a month – have higher antibody levels than those who consume less armadillo meat . The study revealed that armadillo hunters are the most endangered group: among them, the risk of contracting leprosy is seven times higher than normal.

According to Spencer, this discovery could lay the foundation for a public debate on leprosy.

"As armadillos are very numerous in several rural areas of Brazil, the rate of detection of new cases in humans has been considered hyperendemic in the Amazon region for a long time, it is very likely that the introduction of leprosy bacteria into armadillos through interactions with humans is not a recent event, "said Spencer

. among humans, according to Spencer. The leprosy bacteria can live on people's noses and spread in droplets when the individual sneezes, coughs or breathes.

About 95% of the world's population is immune to leprosy, according to the researcher. However, there is no consensus on how the disease infects sensitive people, as many of them claim to have never been in contact with infected people. According to Spencer, the infection can take several years to produce symptoms.

A study from another group of scientists showed in 2011 that nine armadillos found in the southeastern United States were infected with the same line of bacteria. After the discovery of the link between armadillos and leprosy in the United States, scientists speculated that animals could contribute to the problem in Brazil. .

The results of the new study suggest that people who are in frequent contact with armadillos may be infected with the leprosy bacteria. However, in order to establish the connection scientifically, new studies will have to be carried out to discover if the bacterial strains found in armadillos are the same as those found in infected people in the region.

According to Spencer, it is impossible to say if the results of the new study hunters stop eating armadillos. "When we told the villagers that they could catch leprosy from armadillos, they said they did not care, because they liked the armadillo meat and that". they would not change that behavior, "said the scientist.

armadillo . According to another researcher, Marco Andrey Frade, from the Hospital das Clínicas of the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (FMRP-USP), despite the results of the study, the transmission of leprosy by the armadillo is not "The study is a review that shows how much we live with the bacillus, which is present both in nature and in the human body, but our results do not allow us to say in a forceful manner that the transmission comes from the use of the armadillo's flesh or communion with it, "said Frade to the state

According to Frade, transmission occurs mostly in humans. "Our major problem is not the armadillo, but the lack of vigilance and the lack of diagnoses." Health professionals lose their ability to diagnose leprosy, especially in its initial phase, "he explains

., the disease is easily treatable with antibiotics, according to Frade. But undiagnosed illness can take years to manifest, and when it reaches this point, there is a good chance that it will lead to severe malformations and disabilities.

"We do not have a lab test that can be applied on a large scale. Unfortunately, in Brazil, the percentage of people with disabilities is 15% to 20% of those infected. "

" Our big fight is to increase training for network doctors, "said Frade, who is vice president of the Brazilian Society of Hansenology.In FMRP-USP, he is the coordinator of the Center. National Reference for Dermatology of Health with Focus on Leprosy

According to Frade, leprosy is more than a neglected disease: it is an "invisible disease". " In the beginning, it is a disease that does not cause pain. "The person loses sensitivity to touch, heat, cold and pain, everything is silent and the disease slowly atrophies, it does not kill and it does not have an acute phase, so it ends up contributing so that a lot of things are not done, "he said.

Silence, leprosy is more present than most people think. According to Frade, virtually everyone has been in contact with the bacillus at some point, although 90% of the population does not develop the disease.

"The immune system is responsible for the end of the bacillus in the vast majority of the population bacillus gets into the body, but everything will depend on the response of the immune system, which will keep bacteria controlled and imperceptible in some people – who, however, will continue to transmit. "

Last year, his group conducted an investigation at the bus station of Brasilia, in the presence of people who pbaded by chance. "Although in the city, leprosy has not been considered endemic since 2008, we diagnosed the disease in 10% of the people examined."

In addition to scientists FMRP-USP and Colorado State University, researchers from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA), the Ecole Polytechnique Federal University of Lausanne (Switzerland) and the University of Leiden (Netherlands)