Armadillos have been involved in leprosy transmission and are considered a source of Mycobacterium leprae in numerous reports. Clinicians from certain areas of the USA consider contact with armadillos a risk factor for leprosy. However, there is a challenge associated with the role of wild armadillos perpetuating human leprosy in the American Continent. The presence of anti-PGL-I antibodies was investigated in wild nine-banded armadillos from leprosy-endemic areas in State of Espirito Santo, Brazil, by ELISA performed on serum samples from 47 armadillos. Positive ELISA was obtained from 5 (10.6%) armadillos. Infected armadillos may play some role in leprosy transmission, disseminating bacilli in the environment, perhaps making it more difficult to interrupt transmission and reduce the number of new leprosy cases. ELISA is an efficient tool for seroepidemiological investigations of Mycobacterium leprae in armadillos.
BT - Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19618080?dopt=Abstract DA - 2008 DO - 10.1590/s0037-86822008000700015 J2 - Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop. LA - eng, por N2 -Armadillos have been involved in leprosy transmission and are considered a source of Mycobacterium leprae in numerous reports. Clinicians from certain areas of the USA consider contact with armadillos a risk factor for leprosy. However, there is a challenge associated with the role of wild armadillos perpetuating human leprosy in the American Continent. The presence of anti-PGL-I antibodies was investigated in wild nine-banded armadillos from leprosy-endemic areas in State of Espirito Santo, Brazil, by ELISA performed on serum samples from 47 armadillos. Positive ELISA was obtained from 5 (10.6%) armadillos. Infected armadillos may play some role in leprosy transmission, disseminating bacilli in the environment, perhaps making it more difficult to interrupt transmission and reduce the number of new leprosy cases. ELISA is an efficient tool for seroepidemiological investigations of Mycobacterium leprae in armadillos.
PY - 2008 SP - 73 EP - 6 T2 - Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical TI - Research regarding anti-PGL-I antibodies by ELISA in wild armadillos from Brazil. TT - Pesquisa de anticorpos anti PGL-I através de ELISA em tatus selvagens do Brasil UR - http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822008000700015&lng=pt&tlng=pt VL - 41 Suppl 2 SN - 1678-9849 ER -