Armadillos & Leprosy - IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW

in health •  8 years ago 

What you may not have known about leprosy...

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life when you’re just going about your life, minding your own business, and suddenly you’re told that there is a chance that you may have infected with leprosy?

I know, it sounds strange and far-fetched, perhaps third world or Biblical, but it happened to me in the United States just a few years ago, and I was sure surprised.

We were driving about 70 MPH through Oklahoma on our way to Texas when suddenly I saw it. A large Armadillo on the side of the road, alive. I had already seen tons of dead ones, but this was only the second alive one I had ever seen. Not be one to miss an opportunity, I quickly turned around and pulled over. I grabbed our fishing net out of the back of our minivan and took off after it.

Success!!!

I caught that Armadillo and brought it back to the van to let the kids get an up close and personal look. After a few moments of checking it out, we lit the Armadillo go and were back on the road. My wife commented about how blessed she was to have a husband who would do something like that, and the kids had enjoyed meeting another interesting creature.

Later that day, down in San Marcos, TX, we stopped for the night at a motel. As I was checking in, somehow I wound up mentioning our encounter with the Armadillo earlier. The desk clerk looked very concerned, and said, “You might not want to be touching those, Bro. They can carry leprosy.”

I was dumbfounded. How had I never heard of this? I had only ever seen one other Armadillo in the wild, back when I lived in New Orleans. I had caught that one too, but no one had ever mentioned leprosy.

Obviously, I was quite concerned. Immediately when we entered our room I grabbed the laptop and hopped on the wifi. Sure enough, Armadillos could carry leprosy. That was the bad news. The good news is, that I have never been infected with leprosy.


If you live in an area where Armadillos are present, then you may already know about this, but I wanted to share this story just in case some of you didn’t. I realize that not everyone is lie @papa-pepper chasing random wild things into woods, but you never know.

I saw this little guy today at a job site, and decided to pick him up for the photo opportunity. I think that they are incredible little creatures, and their undersides remind me of snapping turtles. I definitely do not mind “checking them out”, but I should probably start doing that from a distance these days.

It is also worth mentioning that Leprosy is now often call “Hansen’s disease,” and it is easily treatable with antibiotics these days, so it is not quite the health hazard that it once was, for those with access to treatment.

Though there is no serious health risk for those living in the southern United States, you may want to make sure not to try this at home.


As always, I’m @papa-pepper, and here’s the proof:


proof-of-papa-pepper-potentially-getting-leprosy

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN YESTERDAY BY @PAPA-PEPPER AND HIS BOSS



Awesome Handcrafted @papa-pepper logo kindly donated by @vlad - Thank you!!

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Excellent! Great Job!

Great post! <3 anti-biotics :)

Thanks for that.
Thankfully, I seem to be fine!

We also have lots of it in the nothern part of the country.

Interesting, I was unaware of that.
Thanks.

In fact lots of chinese are being caught catching and buying them for food and their shells for ornament.

Never heard about but such a nice article.

Thank you for that!
It is interesting!

Sorry I have to...
Think of the Beatles song "Yesterday"
Leprosy, all my parts are falling off of me
And I'm not half the man I used to be
Oh, how did I get leprosy?

from an armadillo?

Sorry again @papa-pepper had to be done.😂

HAHA!

Morning Pappa!
What a cool/fun post even though its about kinda a scar/creepy topic!
I agree that its cool your the kinda guy who does spontaneous and adventurous stuff!
Thoroughly enjoyed the post and just so you know the MUCH better antidote to leprosy than antibiotics is colloidal silver!
It is a must have as it is better than every antibiotic, last longer, cheaper, no side affects and more effective.
@gardenofeden carries the highest quality available on the market should you ever need or want to invest in being prepared should the need ever arise!
Best Wishes~
Steem On!

You are correct. That is a great point! I usually pick up some antibiotics whenever I go to Mexico, but we've been switching to colloidal silver lately anyway. Thanks for sharing.

Awesome!
A major upgrade that I am totally happy to hear! Though considering the kind of guy you are I am not to surprised to find that you are already on the ball!
Keep up the great work Brother and I will keep tuning in~
Bless~*~

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.

I hear that you really got to cook them good.

I know a few folks who've eaten them too.

Thanks for sharing, @papa-pepper! More fun armadillo facts: they give birth to identical quadruplets.

Interesting....

As usual, I learned something new today because I follow @papa-pepper. Thank you.

Excellent! Now you know.

They also have quite a vertical jump, I saw one almost jump over a 6 foot cedar fence once, he made it about 5 feet up the fence in a single bound.

Wow!!! Did not know this creature could jump and jump high...that's crazy and combined with the leprosy carrier quality, kind of creepy. (Nervously lol.)

Yeah, they could even give a really tall person leprosy...

Lol! That's a great plot for a b-rated horror flick!

Yeah, you sure are right. They do get quite a jump to them.

Hahaha I voted on it earlier but forgot to comment. I really love this post of yours. Not everyone would pick up a wild animal for his kids to see and pose for pictures for the hell of it. I'm really glad you're here papa-pepper.

Thank you @pfunk.
I really appreciate hearing that.

Arkansas is so full of armadillos! Walking through the woods at my parents, signs of armadillos digging for grubs are everywhere. They churn that soil! They are an interesting animal. Your photos do a good job of showing them. That's nice of your boss to help you with your Steemit photos, too!

Yeah, he helps me make money...
I think an armadillo got into my garden last night!

Garden-dillo strikes again! :O

:O

Mate, they are one freaky looking critter. Grab first and ask questions later aye?, lol..yeah I have done the same for the fascination aspect of something....did not know about the Leprosy, so a new thing learned today already and it still early:)...Great post.

I'm glad that I posted this then; a lot of people just learned about it!
Go steemit!

Such a cute little animal :) Didnt know about the leprosy though... I hope all the poachers who kill it for fun or money will have it!

Wouldn't that teach them a lesson!

They're really cool, aren't they? I've never seen a live one, I don't think. Thanks for the insights. Do one on their reproduction now. It's crazy. :)
In parts of the country they're also referred to as speed bumps. :s

Most I see are flat... On the road.
I'll have to check out their bedroom behavior.

wow, cool!

I agree!

Sadly they seem to displace the native opossum where ever they go. I prefer opossums. They are basically unable to carry disease because their immune system is so powerful

Did you know it's almost impossible for opossums to get rabies?

Your opossums have moved into the Pacific Northwest, though, and continue to spread. Our climate suits them. They are cute - even though they have more teeth than any other mammal. I think it makes their smile bigger. : )

Very interesting!

I know that opossums can eat a lot of ticks too. We seem to have both in abundance here ( armadillos & opossums)

Interesting. They seem to not overlap here. For years I've watched the "front line" steadily move north and east where dead opossums switch to dead armadillos on the highway whenever I drive south.

Thanks for being so brave and risking your life for us! You learn something new every day and this was my lesson for today!

Great! It is much better for you to learn this way than to have to learn the hard way. Steem on!

Thank you for the good post. It is so interesting.

I agree, it is some interesting stuff.
Thank you for saying it was a good post, you're welcome!

When I moved down to Florida over a year ago, we had an armadillo living under the shed. I got my camera out and snapped a few pictures with the zoom because I didn't want to get too close. I found out later, after doing a Google search that armadillos carry leprosy and there are a few cases (I don't remember how many) in Florida! I was like what. the. fuck?!? Leprosy in America??? YIKES! I should dig out those photos. I was really amazed at how beautiful the armor is.

I was surprised and amazed when I heard that too, especially since I had been playing with them!

Wow! I've never seen a wild Armadillo. Thanks for enlightening all of us.
Is the outer shell of this mammal hard like a turtle?
Does the underbelly have fur?
Do they squeal or snort?

They squeal when my dogs chase after them out of the yard. You wouldn't know it by looking at them, but those suckers are as fast as rats!

Yes, they are really fast!

The "shell" is hard, but not as hard as a turtles.
They do have hair/fur, and they are a mammal.
They can make a noise, but I do not recall what it sounded like.
I think that the tail, belly, and claws make them look similar to a snapping turtle.

what's A Leppo ?

(sorry that was a joke see here)
https://steemit.com/politics/@derptard/gary-johnson-what-is-a-leppo

i'm glad you are promoting decentralized platforms to these animals.

Thanks! I hadn't seen that video!

So cute, thanks for sharing! I have never seen this cute animal in the nature, really great to sse it.

They are really interesting looking.
Thanks @future24!

Yes really interesting animals. :)

Totally interesting, what a cool animal. OMG people eat them? Whoa!
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-armadillos-can-spread-leprosy-180954440/?no-ist
...love your jalapepper too!

It is a totally cool animal, and yes, people do eat them, often in South America.
I hear that you just have to cook them a really long time.

Hahaha! Awesome post! Glad to see you lived to tell the tale! Lol! I dont think we have those up here in Canada?! Cute little creatures though! 😂😄😉

Thanks! I do not believe they make it far enough north for you to see one in the wild... so I'm glad that I sould show you!

Thanks! Much appreciated,! 😉ive eaten armadillos! But those are chocolates! Lol!