I got back from a two-week visit to our place in Panama last week. While we were there I was told that one of our neighbors had killed, and was grilling, an armadillo.

Someone suggested walking over there and trying it. My wife had eaten them when she was young. I had never tried it. I passed asking my brother-in-law if that was safe. I knew I had heard that they could pass along leprosy or syphilis, I couldn't remember which. As you've said above, it's leprosy.

I don't know where I'd heard it from. I'm not a Texan or a southerner.

On our last night there another armadillo came in through the gate at the edge of our property, walked down our drive for a bit, then veered off into the brush. My brother-in-law, apparently unconvinced about them passing along diseases, suggested we grab a machete and fire up the grill. I passed.

I researched it on my second day back and saw that they can pass leprosy along to people, even if the disease is now treatable. It is still somewhat worrying for people in parts of the world where they may not get the diagnostics and treatment. No one there had any idea what I was talking about, honestly.