Attention Texans: Time to give up eating Possum on the Half-shelf

Feuer Frei! · 05-04-11, 06:19 AM

Each year only about 150 people in the U.S. are infected with leprosy, a bacterial disease that can lead to nerve damage and disfigurement. In most cases, people are infected after being exposed to saliva from an infected person, usually while traveling to parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia, where the disease is more prevalent.
But Abide's patient didn't fit this description.

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine may provide an explanation for her case: armadillos. The leathery shelled mammals, which can be found in 10 states throughout the Southeastern U.S., are the only animals besides humans known to carry leprosy.
There have been several anecdotal reports of leprosy in humans who have handled, killed or eaten armadillos, or who may have been indirectly exposed by gardening in soil where the animals burrow, as was the case for Abide's patient.
But until now, experts haven't been able to confirm that armadillos could pass the disease to humans. The study provides the strongest evidence to date. Researchers analyzed the genomes of leprosy-causing bacteria collected from seven patients and one armadillo.

Of the 50 patients and 33 wild armadillos the researchers analyzed from the U.S., 25 patients and 28 armadillos shared a genetically identical strain of leprosy bacteria. And at least 8 of the 25 patients carrying the strain reported contact with armadillos.
However, he adds, the chance that the humans with the armadillo-specific strain were infected by some other means is about 1 in 10,000. The armadillo population in the U.S. has been estimated at 30 to 50 million, and studies suggest that, in some places, up to 15 percent have leprosy.
For now the infected animals are concentrated in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama, but the armadillo population appears to be spreading north and east and could bring leprosy with it.

SOURCE

Really? People eat these? Bloody hell.

Fish In The Water · 05-04-11, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

There have been several anecdotal reports of leprosy in humans who have handled, killed or eaten armadillos...

Well there go my dinner plans!

GoldenRivet · 05-04-11, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

Attention Arkansas folk: Time to give up eating Possum on the Half-shell

Fixed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

Really? People eat these? Bloody hell.

Can't say i have tried armadillo, nor have i ever known anyone who has...

but i hear people also eat snails, spiders, roaches, snakes, horses, dogs, cats, crickets, ants, bull's testicles and anything else that can pretty much be boiled, fried, pickled or baked etc.

so armadillo wouldnt surprise me.

mookiemookie · 05-04-11, 08:16 AM

GR is right. That's more of an Arkansas/Louisiana/Ozarks type of thing. I don't know of any Texas rednecks that eat possum. Deer sausage, pheasant, redfish and quail, yes. Possum, no.

GoldenRivet · 05-04-11, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Deer sausage, pheasant, redfish and quail, yes

and quite delicious too

we will add wild boar sausage with jalapeno cheese while we are at it.

Herr-Berbunch · 05-04-11, 08:25 AM

Prove those humans didn't pass on the disease to the poor armadillos!

GoldenRivet · 05-04-11, 08:30 AM

i have always been warned that nearly anything reptilian carries with it a higher risk of leprosy infection.

i dont know if that is grounded in fact but i have always heard that.

mookiemookie · 05-04-11, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

and quite delicious too

we will add wild boar sausage with jalapeno cheese while we are at it.

Love boar sausage. Boar anything is great. So glad they're a nuisance animal that breeds like crazy!

AVGWarhawk · 05-04-11, 10:43 AM

Critter desure!
http://www.tngenweb.org/tntable/possum.htm

tater · 05-04-11, 10:51 AM

No where in that article does it say how many of the tiny number of total cases are caused by eating, just that eating could cause it.

Eating sushi made of dead AIDS patients could also cause HIV, I bet, too.

Dead armadillos are common in TX on the roads, etc, coming across one (kids poking it with a stick, or an adult dragging it out of the road) are not unlikely in rural areas.

nikimcbee · 05-08-11, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

Fixed

Can't say i have tried armadillo, nor have i ever known anyone who has...

but i hear people also eat snails, spiders, roaches, snakes, horses, dogs, cats, crickets, ants, bull's testicles and anything else that can pretty much be boiled, fried, pickled or baked etc.

so armadillo wouldnt surprise me.

Nothing surprises me. You need to go to one of the large Asian markets out here.

Oberon · 03-24-13, 10:57 AM

I think this thread might be so old that it could be mistaken for a leper.

Jimbuna · 03-24-13, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColdFire47

Thanks! I could not find any information proving that aradillos can cause leprosy. Most articles say that this fact is suggested by the specialists, but no evidences are given. I've found a comprehensive overview of leprosy symptoms and treatment and it says that about 95% of people have naturally immunity to leprosy. What do you think?

Be gone with you....if I'm mistaken Neal can reverse the decision.

em2nought · 03-24-13, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

or who may have been indirectly exposed by gardening in soil where the animals burrow, as was the case for Abide's patient.

Really, from the soil? Oh crap!

fireftr18 · 03-24-13, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by em2nought

Really, from the soil? Oh crap!

I think possibly quite literally.

05-04-11, 06:19 AM	#1
Feuer Frei! Navy Seal Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Valhalla Posts: 5,295 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 17	Attention Texans: Time to give up eating Possum on the Half-shelf Each year only about 150 people in the U.S. are infected with leprosy, a bacterial disease that can lead to nerve damage and disfigurement. In most cases, people are infected after being exposed to saliva from an infected person, usually while traveling to parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia, where the disease is more prevalent. But Abide's patient didn't fit this description. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine may provide an explanation for her case: armadillos. The leathery shelled mammals, which can be found in 10 states throughout the Southeastern U.S., are the only animals besides humans known to carry leprosy. There have been several anecdotal reports of leprosy in humans who have handled, killed or eaten armadillos, or who may have been indirectly exposed by gardening in soil where the animals burrow, as was the case for Abide's patient. But until now, experts haven't been able to confirm that armadillos could pass the disease to humans. The study provides the strongest evidence to date. Researchers analyzed the genomes of leprosy-causing bacteria collected from seven patients and one armadillo. Of the 50 patients and 33 wild armadillos the researchers analyzed from the U.S., 25 patients and 28 armadillos shared a genetically identical strain of leprosy bacteria. And at least 8 of the 25 patients carrying the strain reported contact with armadillos. However, he adds, the chance that the humans with the armadillo-specific strain were infected by some other means is about 1 in 10,000. The armadillo population in the U.S. has been estimated at 30 to 50 million, and studies suggest that, in some places, up to 15 percent have leprosy. For now the infected animals are concentrated in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama, but the armadillo population appears to be spreading north and east and could bring leprosy with it. SOURCE Really? People eat these? Bloody hell. __________________ "History is the lies that the victors agree on"- Napoleon LINK TO MY SH 3 MODS

05-04-11, 08:16 AM	#4
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	GR is right. That's more of an Arkansas/Louisiana/Ozarks type of thing. I don't know of any Texas rednecks that eat possum. Deer sausage, pheasant, redfish and quail, yes. Possum, no. __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

05-04-11, 08:25 AM	#6
Herr-Berbunch Kaiser Bill's batman Join Date: May 2010 Location: AN72 Posts: 13,203 Downloads: 76 Uploads: 0	Prove those humans didn't pass on the disease to the poor armadillos! __________________

05-04-11, 08:30 AM	#7
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	i have always been warned that nearly anything reptilian carries with it a higher risk of leprosy infection. i dont know if that is grounded in fact but i have always heard that. __________________

05-04-11, 10:43 AM	#9
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,253 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Critter desure! http://www.tngenweb.org/tntable/possum.htm __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

05-04-11, 10:51 AM	#10
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	No where in that article does it say how many of the tiny number of total cases are caused by eating, just that eating could cause it. Eating sushi made of dead AIDS patients could also cause HIV, I bet, too. Dead armadillos are common in TX on the roads, etc, coming across one (kids poking it with a stick, or an adult dragging it out of the road) are not unlikely in rural areas. __________________ "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." — Thomas Paine

03-24-13, 10:57 AM	#12
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	I think this thread might be so old that it could be mistaken for a leper.