I think it carries leprosy. These critters are indeed a pest. They have been known to dig under foundations and they can quickly tear up a lawn as I have learned. I've got a shotgun ready to dispatch them but I never seen them when I am up. They can actually run pretty fast. Just get used to them. I've seen them up in Missouri.
Come on over to TX we have tons of them. In west Tx some roads are armor plated if you get my drift for a few months a year. They are not that bad. But a shotgun is not a good idea. The pellets sometimes will bounce off the armor. A 22 will work just fine.
Dillers can get a type of leprosy, but it isn't the kind humans get. They don't carry anything that will hurt you.
Their range periodicaly expands and contracts. Sometimes they live only in South Texas, other times they expand over teh entire South Central and South Eastern United States.
SO9
Lots of critters are expanding and changing their ranges. The old timers tell me that there was a time when there were few whitetail deer in southern lower Michigan, now we're overrun. I've read that possums have expanded their range north over the last couple of hundred years. Coyotes seem to be growing in numbers in this part of the state as well.