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As if there weren’t enough infectious diseases to worry about, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is issuing a warning about a new strain of leprosy — and pinning the blame on, of all creatures, armadillos. It’s long been known that armadillos harbor one particular strain of leprosy that has occasionally been transmitted to humans. But now, researchers say they’ve discovered armadillos in the southeastern US with a new genotype of leprosy bacteria. It’s also turning up in human patients, where it can cause skin and nerve damage

When Alex Rodriguez swings for the fences or Venus Williams tries to ace her serve, they do well to connect at the "sweet spot" of their bat or racket. That aim was apparently shared by some unlikely contenders: glyptodonts, armored mammals with clublike tails that roamed the Americas until about 10,000 years ago. The sweet spot, or center of percussion, is the point on a tool where powerful blows should be landed to maximize impact and minimize the risk of injury to the user.

A glyptodont shell found in Carlos Spegazzini, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina on December 29, 2015 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A passer-by on Christmas Day found a meter-long shell on a riverbank in Argentina which may be from a glyptodont, a prehistoric kind of giant armadillo, experts said Tuesday. A local man thought the black scaly shell was a dinosaur egg when he saw it lying in the mud, his wife Reina Coronel told AFP. Her husband Jose Antonio Nievas found the shell beside a stream at their farm in Carlos Spegazzini, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital Buenos Aires. "My...

Leprosy in Florida from Armadillos? Not that surprised, they carry a whole host of nasty bacteria. However, you'd have to snuggle with them to get it, or perhaps your dog would. As far as leprosy goes, it is far more likely that it is being brought in by either the illegal aliens going to Florida after coming across our southern border, the Cubans that are flowing into the state or other persons from foreign countries that just 'happen' to wind up in Florida. These invaders are bringing back diseases to the US we have not seen in a very, very...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Leprosy cases in Florida are higher than normal and experts are blaming armadillos. Nine cases have been reported across Florida so far this year. On average, the state only sees 10 cases for the entire year. Action News spoke to a trapper who said he takes extra precautions because of this danger. Armadillos are very common all over Florida, and most of them live in the woods. But others could live near your home, and we learned that puts you and your family at risk. “We catch more armadillos than we do any other species,” said wildlife...

Leprosy cases in Florida are higher than normal, and experts are blaming armadillos. WJAX-TV reports that nine cases have been reported across Florida so far this year, already nearly matching the state's average of 10 cases per year, according to the Department of Health. Dr. Sunil Joshi, president of the Duval County Medical Society, says each case this year has involved people who were in direct contact with armadillos.

LEESBURG, Ga. —A man shot an armadillo, but the bullet ricocheted off the armadillo and struck his mother-in-law. Investigators say that Larry McElroy fired a pistol at the armadillo Sunday night, WALB-TV reports. The bullet killed the armadillo but ricocheted off of it, hit a fence, went through the back door of Carol Johnson's mobile home and hit the chair in which she was sitting, hitting her in the back, The Associated Press reports. Johnson's wounds are not life-threatening, the AP reports.

Dallas police are on the lookout for a man who could face assault charges for throwing a frozen armadillo at a 57-year-old woman near Dallas. The woman, My Fox Dallas-Fort Worth reports, met the man in a parking lot to purchase the armadillo carcass, which she planned to eat. During a fight over its price, he hit her with the animal in the leg and the chest, leaving bruises on her body.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A strain of leprosy found in armadillos has been identified in dozens of people in the southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans. The findings are the first to confirm a long-suspected link between the disease in armadillos and humans, but are not a sign that a new epidemic is underway, researchers said. Rather, the report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the disease, most often found in India, can originate in the United States and infect humans who hunt armadillo and butcher the...

WEVER, Iowa,- Experts said an armadillo found dead at the side of a southeastern Iowa road may have been part of an early species range expansion. Ron Andrews, a biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said armadillos are commonly found in the south central and southeastern United States, Mexico and South America, but one of the animals was found Saturday at the side of the road by a rural couple near Wever, The (Burlington, Iowa) Hawk Eye, reported Wednesday. He said the animal may have been part of an early species range expansion. "In southeast Iowa, the chances...

PEORIA, Ill. -- This industrial city, hard hit by the recession, has found a new, low-budget way to fight crime: Park an unmanned, former Brink's truck bristling with video cameras in front of the dwellings of troublemakers. Police here call it the Armadillo. They say it has restored quiet to some formerly rowdy streets. Neighbors' calls for help have dropped sharply. About half of the truck's targets have fled the neighborhood. "The truck is meant to be obnoxious and to cause shame," says Peoria Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard. The Armadillo has helped alleviate problems like drug dealing that can make...

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HOLLOMAN AIR FORE BASE, New Mexico – The rocketeers at Armadillo Aerospace, thwarted by engine problems and other mechanical failures, left this year's X Prize Cup empty-handed after their spacecraft burst into flames on liftoff Sunday. Over the two days during a Holloman Air and Space Expo, attempts at snaring the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge's $350,000 purse with their design were fraught with technical snags. At one point on Saturday, they were within seconds of winning the money – only to have the multi-legged vehicle self-abort and tip over on landing. An attempt on Sunday to hop from launch...

A St. Louis-area man was injured Tuesday after colliding with an armadillo in the opening miles of the second stage of the Tour of Missouri. Dan Schmatz, 33, of Ballwin, was riding in the peloton at about 20 mph when he and teammate Jonathan Garcia of Boulder, Colo., met with the wayward animal. Schmatz, who lives in Longmont, Colo., was taken to a local hospital. The extent of his injuries was not known Tuesday afternoon. [ snip ]

When a food safety inspector walked into a market in Queens, he noticed the store had an interesting special posted on its front window: 12 beefy armadillos. In Brooklyn, inspectors found 15 pounds of iguana meat at a West Indian market and 200 pounds of cow lungs for sale at another market. At a West African grocery in Manhattan, the store was selling smoked rodent meat from a refrigerated display case. An inspector quickly seized a couple pounds of it. All of it was headed for the dinner table. All of it was also illegal. Authorities say the discoveries are...