Re: Re: Armadillos/leprosy

How interesting!  Wonder what it really was??  Any theories?

Pam Evans
Kemp, TX
zone 8A
----- Original Message -----
From: Cathy Carpenter
Sent: 11/17/2004 7:39:22 AM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Armadillos/leprosy

And most of what was described in the Bible as leprosy was probably 
something else.
Cthy
On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 11:08 PM, Judy L Browning wrote:

> Leprosy is now called Hanson's disease in research, etc. There is 
> treatment
> to clear the bacteria from the body. I heard an interesting reference 
> to it
> a few days ago. Seems the rotting flesh, loss of body parts etc. 
> associated
> with the disease is not directly caused by the bacteria. Loss of pain
> sensation from nerve damage is the real culprit. Without pain to let 
> the
> person know they have a cut or even a broken bone, the damaged area 
> easily
> becomes infected and that secondary infection is the cause of the 
> terrible
> disfiguring that caused such horror of the disease.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Franzman" <dfranzma@pacbell.net>
> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 8:33 PM
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Armadillos/leprosy
>
>
>> Thanks for that clarification Cathy but it leads me to another 
>> question
>> about leprosy.  We know of the leper colonies of Hawaii...I think it 
>> was
>> Molokai...but we never hear of the disease anymore at least I don't.  
>> Is
> it
>> now treatable and why don't we hear of it?
>>
>> DF
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Cathy Carpenter" <cathy.c@insightbb.com>
>> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 3:13 PM
>> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Armadillos
>>
>>
>>> Just had to set the record straight on armadillos and leprosy. Yes,
>>> armadillos, because of their low body temperature, have been used to
>>> culture Mycobacterium leprae (Leprosy is caused by a bacterium, 
>>> related
> to
>>> the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, not a virus). Because the
> bacterium
>>> has not been able to be grown in artificial culture, the sole source 
>>> of
>>> the germ for study has been the nine banded armadillo (and mice).  
>>> Yes
>>> there has been a lot of "buzz" on the possible transmission of the
>>> bacterium from the armadillo to humans, but to my knowledge, the only
>>> documented transmission has been related to oral consumption of
>>> undercooked armadillo meat. Leprosy, despite its horrendous biblical
>>> reputation (most of which was not related to the disease), is very
>>> difficult to contract. There is documented evidence that people have
> lived
>>> for years in close proximity (ie. marriage) to people with the 
>>> disease
> and
>>> have never "caught" it. The lowly nine banded armadillo should be
>>> recipient of our gratitude rather than our prejudice...at least as 
>>> far
> as
>>> health research is concerned.
>>> Cathy
>>> On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at 09:35 AM, Jesse Bell wrote:
>>>
>>>> I truly do not like armadillos. Did you know they carry the leprosy
>>>> virus? And they do jump...and squeak...and they don't see well at 
>>>> night
>>>> (that's why you see so many dead ones on the road). When I chased 
>>>> one
>>>> with a broom (in New Orleans) and yelled at it...it jumped up and 
>>>> came
>>>> running after me. I screamed and ran. Ick. Hate 'em. The short one 
>>>> is
>>>> braver than me..that's for sure.
>>>
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