A random survey of leprosy in wild nine-banded armadillos in Louisiana.

On the basis of the finding that lepromatous granulomas were almost always seen in the ears of armadillos with disseminated leprosy, a random survey of the prevalence of the disease among wild armadillos in the state of Louisiana, U.S.A., was conducted by examining histopathologically both ears of armadillos killed on the roads by automobiles. Ten (2%) of the 494 animals examined had disseminated leprosy. If a killed lepromatous armadillo releases up to 10 Mycobacterium leprae into the environment, the importance of the event to the epidemiology of leprosy must be considered.