But the mammals are pretty tough when they roll into a
protective ball, which is why Brazil picked a Brazilian three-banded armadillo
named Fuleco as the mascot for the 2014 World Cup.
A Legacy of Leprosy
Different though we may seem, humans and armadillos share an
unfortunate similarity—we’re the only animals that can naturally contract
Hansen’s disease, better known as leprosy.
Leprosy is caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacterium.
This nasty bug prefers slightly cooler temperatures, which is why in humans it
causes serious damage to the extremities. Unfortunately for our armored
friends, armadillos tend to have a lower core body temperature than most
mammals. This means the bacterium is free to go crazy throughout their body
cavity, eventually causing organ failure and death.
“But in order to contract leprosy from an armadillo,” said
Loughry, “I always tell people you really have to want to, because it’s not
easy to get it.”
In other words, unless you butcher an armadillo while you
have open wounds on your hands, you’re unlikely to catch leprosy from one of
these animals.
If only the same were true for the armadillos. By sequencing
the bacterium’s genome, scientists have determined that leprosy didn’t exist in
the New World until Europeans arrived.
Surprisingly Brazil has a larger problem with Hansen's disease than India based on population - even with a early detection test and a cure.
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