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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 registered that year: 135,485.
According to the authors of the research, published in the scientific journal Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases, it was already known that Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)) can transmit to humans Mycobacterium leprae, a leprosy-causing bacillus, 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, with the authors of the study, the presence of bacilli in animals is worrying because part of the population of the Brazilian Amazon has the habit of hunting the armadillo, which is part of the local diet
According to one of the authors of the study, Spencer, of Colorado State University (USA), the group of scientists investigated the presence of armadillos in western Pará and made genetic tests with DNA extracted from 16 armadillos captured by the hunter's locations.
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. The scientists took blood samples from the locals and measured the antibody levels of the leprosy bacteria.
According to Spencer, of the 16 armadillos studied, ten were infected with M. 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. leprae
The study also showed that individuals who consume armadillo meat more frequently – at least once a month – Have higher levels of antibodies, compared to those who ate 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. Armadillo badociation with the spread of leprosy in Brazil.
"As armadillos are very numerous in several rural areas of Brazil, and as the rate of detection of new cases in humans has long been considered hyperendemic in the Amazonian region, it is extremely likely that the The disease, which can be treated with antibiotics, is probably spreading in 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 immunized against leprosy, according to the researcher, but there is no consensus on how the disease affects susceptible people because many of them claim to have never been in contact with infected people.According to Spencer, the infection may take several years to produce symptoms.
A study of another gro upe 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 issued the Hypothesis 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 scientifically establish the link, new studies will have to be conducted to find out 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 the hunters stop eating armadillos. "When we told the villagers that they could catch leprosy from armadillos, they said that they were making fun of it because they liked the armadillo meat and that they would not change this behavior, "said the scientist.
This is not the fault of the 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 main concern of the experts of the disease.
"The study is a story that shows how much we live with the bacillus, present both in nature and in the human body, but our results do not allow us to say with force that the transmission comes from the use of armadillo flesh or communion with him, "said Frade to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo . most of the transmission occurs even among humans. "Our big problem is not the tattoo but the lack of vigilance and lack of diagnoses.Health professionals lose the ability to diagnose leprosy, especially in its early stages," he explained.
When diagnosed early, 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. we must rely on the clinical eye of the doctors. But fewer and fewer professionals are prepared for this. "
" Our big fight is to expand the training of network doctors, "said Frade, who is the vice president of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases." Hansenologia. "In FMRP-USP, he is the Coordinator of the National Reference Center for Health Dermatology with a Focus on Leprosy
According to Frade, Leprosy is more than a neglected disease: it is an "invisible disease" "It's a disease that does not cause pain in the first place. The person loses sensitivity to touch, heat, cold and pain. Everything is silent and the illness slowly soothes. It does not kill either and has no acute phase – which ultimately contributes to a lack of action, "he said.
Silence, leprosy is more present than most people think. According to Frade, almost everyone has come into contact with the bacillus at some point, although 90% of the population does not develop the disease.
"The immune system takes care to stop the bacillus in the vast majority of cases.In 10% of the population, the bacillus enters the body, but everything will depend on the response of the immune system, which will maintain the bacterium controlled and imperceptible in some people – who, however, will continue to make the transmission. "
who, last year, his group did a survey at the bus station in Brasilia, attending to people who went through the place at random. "Although leprosy has not been considered endemic since 2008, we diagnosed the disease in 10% of those surveyed."
In addition to scientists from the FMRP-USP and Colorado State University, the study included researchers from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the Federal University of Western Pará ( UFOPA), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (Switzerland) and the University of Leiden (Netherlands)
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