School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6501.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Health Systems Bureau, National Hansen's Disease Program, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809.
J Parasitol. 2022 Jan 1;108(1):57-63. doi: 10.1645/21-76.
Originally endemic to South America, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has recently expanded its range northward to Illinois. With this range expansion comes concern regarding potential incoming pathogens; our research, conducted during 2012-2020, consisted of screening armadillos for the presence of helminths, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Mycobacterium leprae. We screened for the presence of T. cruzi and M. leprae, 2 pathogens known to infect humans, using polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. All 80 samples screened for T. cruzi and all 25 samples screened for M. leprae were negative. No parasite specific to the nine-banded armadillo, such as Aspidodera sogandaresi, was detected. This lack of infection is consistent with the idea that animals may be isolated from their common parasites during periods of range expansion. Lack of infection by T. cruzi in an endemic area suggests that these mammals may not be exposed to the infective stages at this early phase of their colonization. Presently, the armadillo has become established in Illinois, yet they have not introduced their parasites into the area. Our study represents the first effort to document the parasitological record of the expanding armadillo within 30 yr of their initial record in Illinois and the American Midwest. This helminthological record of armadillos in Illinois sets the timeline to observe the establishment of A. sogandaresi in the Midwest.
最初在南美洲流行的九带犰狳（Dasypus novemcinctus）最近向北扩展到了伊利诺伊州。随着这种范围的扩大，人们开始担心潜在的传入病原体；我们的研究在 2012 年至 2020 年期间进行，包括筛选犰狳是否存在寄生虫、克氏锥虫和麻风分枝杆菌。我们使用聚合酶链反应和酶联免疫吸附试验分别筛查克氏锥虫和麻风分枝杆菌这两种已知感染人类的病原体。我们对 80 个样本进行了克氏锥虫筛查，对 25 个样本进行了麻风分枝杆菌筛查，结果均为阴性。未检测到特定于九带犰狳的寄生虫，如 Aspidodera sogandaresi。这种没有感染的情况与动物在范围扩大期间可能与常见寄生虫隔离的观点一致。在流行地区缺乏克氏锥虫感染表明，这些哺乳动物在其殖民的早期阶段可能不会接触到感染阶段。目前，犰狳已经在伊利诺伊州定居，但它们尚未将寄生虫引入该地区。我们的研究代表了在九带犰狳在伊利诺伊州和美国中西部最初记录后的 30 年内，首次记录其寄生虫的努力。伊利诺伊州犰狳的这种寄生虫记录为观察 A. sogandaresi 在中西部的建立设定了时间表。
