Posted on 12/01/2008 2:49:11 PM PST by AuntB
M. D. Anderson scientists use genetic fingerprint to nail 'killing organism'
This release is available in Spanish.
IMAGE: Xiang-Yang Han, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor in Laboratory Medicine at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
HOUSTON - A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.
All cases of leprosy, an ancient disease that still maims and kills in the developing world, previously had been thought to be caused by a single species of bacterium, said lead author Xiang-Yang Han, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in Laboratory Medicine at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
“We have identified a second species of leprosy mycobacterium, and in identifying this killing organism we’ve better defined the disease that it causes, diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL).” Han said. DLL occurs mainly in Mexico and the Caribbean.
There are hundreds of thousands of new cases of leprosy worldwide each year, but the disease is rare in the United States, with 100-200 new cases annually, mostly among immigrants. Leprosy initially attacks skin and nerve cells.
R. Geetha Nair, M.D., a physician with Maricopa Integrated Health System in Phoenix, contacted Han in 2007 for help confirming a possible leprosy diagnosis in a patient who died that February.
The patient, a 53-year-old man originally from Mexico, was admitted that month for treatment of extensive leg wounds. While undergoing antibiotic treatment and additional diagnostic testing the next day, he was stricken with high fever and shock. He died after 10 days in intensive care.
Analysis of autopsied tissue at the Phoenix hospital suggested a diagnosis of diffuse lepromatous leprosy, a form first described in Mexico in 1852. Han said DLL uniquely attacks a patient’s skin vasculature, blocking or impeding blood flow. This leads to extensive skin death at late stage and may cause secondary infection and fatal shock. The DLL bacterium had never been studied.[snips]
neverdem, do you still have that ‘health’ ping list?
Can this form of leprosy be carried by armadillos?
“Can this form of leprosy be carried by armadillos?”
I was reading about the strain carried by armadillos earlier. Evidently this one is a whole other monster.
“Can this form of leprosy be carried by armadillos?”
The armadillo is not a carrier of leprosy. It just so happens that Mycobacterium leprae will only grow in living tissue of a certain temperature and not on laboratory medium like agar plates. The footpads of mice were once used, but someone found out that the bacterium grew well in armadillos in a lab setting. They do not act as “carriers” in the wild.
Yes. I'll link it later on one of my threads. I'll micro ping these folks now. Thank you.
Thank you, neverdem, even though this got delegated to ‘chat’, it should be seen.
“The armadillo is not a carrier of leprosy.”
What do you make of this then?
“It was long thought only humans could get leprosy. Then in the late 1960s researchers speculated that armadillos might be a good test bed for leprosy research because (a) M. leprae thrives in cooler parts of the body (feet, nose, ears, etc.); (b) armadillos have a relatively low body temperature as mammals go, 30 to 35 degrees Celsius compared to 37 degrees in humans (98.6 Fahrenheit for you retro types); (c) armadillos live long enough, 12 to 15 years, for this slow-acting disease to emerge; and (d) armadillo litters almost invariably consist of identical quadruplets, which was useful for genetic experiments.
Aspects of this conjecture might seem far-fetched (I’m thinking of the low body temp part), but it panned out. Several nine-banded armadillos, the type found in the U.S., were inoculated with leprosy germs and came down with full-blown cases of the disease.
Later the researchers discovered something odd: some armadillos already had leprosy. At first they thought the animals had escaped from the leprosy-inoculation experiment or become infected through contact with the lab’s waste. But eventually these possibilities were ruled out. Nine-banded armadillos, of which there are 30 to 50 million in the southeastern U.S., are believed to be the only significant natural reservoir of leprosy apart from humans. (A few cases have been found in chimps and mangabey monkeys in Africa.) How the armadillos got leprosy in the first place nobody knows. But there you are.” (From the Straight Dope)
A couple of years ago, caught some Michael Savage talking about all the diseases returning to to America, via illegals. Till America decides to be a free nation again, I only see things getting worse, long before they get better.
Bio Ping
Leprosy, TB, a lot of intractable diseases being introduced by immigrants.
I think there was a story back last spring about South Sea Islanders in one of the southern states who had leprosy, too.
Yes, I just looked it up, and it’s Marshallese in Springdale, Arkansas. Working for Tyson Chicken, of course.
http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/007464.html
While studying pathogenic bacteria at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I was taught that armadillos could carry leprosy naturally. Bets are the entire subject is up for discussion.
When we lived in western Tennessee, our wildlife officers told us to be careful of handling armadillos because of this.
The more I researched this, the more it became obvious that they carry it....but my initial question was with regard to this *new* strain of leprosy.
Just one teeny little problem with this announcement. They’re never be able to actually make the bacteria cause leprosy. And they never will. Ever.
It’s like all the other diseases they *believe* are caused by one bacteria or another. None of it has ever been proven. They can’t make these alledged disease-causing bacteria cause the disease in experimentation conducted in proper scientific method. They never have. They never will.
Dont’ bother asking for or demanding an explanation of what I’m saying. I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation.
Medicine is not science. It’s religion. It operates on belief, faith.
All cases of leprosy, an ancient disease that still maims and kills in the developing world, previously had been thought to be caused by a single species of bacterium, said lead author Xiang-Yang Han, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in Laboratory Medicine at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "We have identified a second species of leprosy mycobacterium, and in identifying this killing organism we've better defined the disease that it causes, diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL)." ...There are hundreds of thousands of new cases of leprosy worldwide each year, but the disease is rare in the United States, with 100-200 new cases annually, mostly among immigrants. Leprosy initially attacks skin and nerve cells.
>I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation.<
Why do you bother with the post if you don’t wish to explain the reasons behind it?
No, I am NOT asking for an explanation, so calm down.
“What do you make of this then?”
That one learns something new everyday. Today I learned it from you. Thanks!
You’re very welcome....and, by the way, I’m a moral conservative too. ;-)
“It’s like all the other diseases they *believe* are caused by one bacteria or another. None of it has ever been proven. They can’t make these alledged disease-causing bacteria cause the disease in experimentation conducted in proper scientific method. They never have. They never will.”
Heavenly days are you ever out in left field. Look up and read about “Koch’s Postulates.” The “germ” theory of disease has been, using scientific methodology, been proven time and time again in real time.
If you don’t think bacteria have been definitively linked to disease, then you wouldn’t mind if I injected you with a small amount of Yersia pestis. Then when you develop bubonic or septicemic plague in a week or so, it won’t be my fault.....it just happened.
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