The Armadillo Factor: Lepromatous Leprosy

Cleary, Laura C.; Suraj, Smitha; Haburchak, David R.; Turrentine, Jake E.

doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2017.06.001

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Case reports since 2008 have identified M. lepromatosis infection in a further 15 patients (Vera-Cabrera et al, 2011;Jessamine et al, 2012;Han and Jessurun, 2013;Han and Quintanilla, 2015;Sotiriou et al, 2016;Velarde-Felix et al, 2016;Cleary et al, 2017;Virk et al, 2017;Htet et al, 2018;Flores-Suarez et al, 2019;Trave et al, 2020;Watson et al, 2020), plus two patients with dual infections of M. lepromatosis and M. leprae (Widiatma and Sukanto, 2019;Aldama Olmedo et al, 2020). Of the 21 M. lepromatosis cases, 11 (52.4%) patients were from Mexico (seven were United States residents), 2 each from Singapore, Myanmar, and United States, and one each from Indonesia, Paraguay, Cuba, and Canada.…”

Section: Subsequent Case Reports and Specimen Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the case reports of HD caused by M. lepromatosis, zoonotic sources were suggested in two patients from Guerrero state, Mexico, who were diagnosed several years after emigrating to the United States, both with multibacillary forms of HD (one DLL and one BL). Both patients reported direct contact with armadillos (hunting, handling, and eating) when they lived in Mexico (Sotiriou et al, 2016;Cleary et al, 2017).…”

Section: Zoonotic Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mycobacterium lepromatosis as a Second Agent of Hansen’s Disease

Deps

Collin

2021

Front. Microbiol.

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Mycobacterium lepromatosis was identified as a new species and second causal agent of Hansen’s disease (HD, or leprosy) in 2008, 150years after the disease was first attributed to Mycobacterium leprae. M. lepromatosis has been implicated in a small number of HD cases, and clinical aspects of HD caused by M. lepromatosis are poorly characterized. HD is a recognized zoonosis through transmission of M. leprae from armadillos, but the role of M. lepromatosis as a zoonotic agent of HD is unknown. M. lepromatosis was initially associated with diffuse lepromatous leprosy, but subsequent case reports and surveys have linked it to other forms of HD. HD caused by M. lepromatosis has been reported from three endemic countries: Brazil, Myanmar, and Philippines, and three non-endemic countries: Mexico, Malaysia, and United States. Contact with armadillos in Mexico was mentioned in 2/21 M. lepromatosis HD case reports since 2008. M. lepromatosis in animals has been investigated only in non-endemic countries, in squirrels and chipmunks in Europe, white-throated woodrats in Mexico, and armadillos in the United States. To date, there have only been a small number of positive findings in Eurasian red squirrels in Britain and Ireland. A single study of environmental samples found no M. lepromatosis in soil from a Scottish red squirrel habitat. Future studies must focus on endemic countries to determine the true proportion of HD cases caused by M. lepromatosis, and whether viable M. lepromatosis occurs in non-human sources.

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Section: Subsequent Case Reports and Specimen Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Zoonotic Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mycobacterium lepromatosis as a Second Agent of Hansen’s Disease

Deps

Collin

2021

Front. Microbiol.

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Leprosy Caused byMycobacterium lepromatosis

Romero-Navarrete

Arenas

Han

et al. 2022

American Journal of Clinical Pathology

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Objectives Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. This study reviews literature on M lepromatosis and reports on a Mexican family with this infection. Methods The review included all primary studies. Family history and surveys were used to uncover the infection cluster. Genome-based differential polymerase chain reactions were designed to detect etiologic agents. Results Since the discovery of M lepromatosis in 2008, 154 cases of M lepromatosis infection from 11 countries in the Americas and Asia have been reported, with most cases coming from Mexico. These cases included diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL) and other leprosy forms. Genomes of M lepromatosis strains have lately been sequenced, revealing 3,271,694 nucleotides and approximately 15% mismatches with M leprae. The Mexican family with leprosy involved the grandfather, mother, and 2 grandsons. The index was the oldest grandson, who manifested DLL and likely contracted the infection from his maternal grandfather approximately 13 years earlier. Family surveys diagnosed DLL in the index patient’s mother and borderline leprosy in his brother; both were likely infected by the index patient. M lepromatosis was identified from archived biopsies from the index patient and his mother, while M leprae was excluded. Conclusions M lepromatosis is a significant cause of leprosy in Mexico and requires better surveillance and control.

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