Table 1. Characteristics of armadillo tissues from US museum collections examined for Mycobacterium leprae and M. lepromatosis*.
| Category | No. (%) animals | No. (%) positive for M. leprae |
|---|---|---|
| Species | ||
| Dasypus novemcinctus | 122 (76.7) | 18 (100) |
| Tolypeutes matacus | 20 (12.6) | 0 |
| Cabassous unicinctus | 5 (3.1) | 0 |
| Chaetophractus vellerosus | 3 (1.9) | 0 |
| Zaedypus pichiy | 3 (1.9) | 0 |
| Chaetophractus villosus | 2 (1.3) | 0 |
| Cabassous tatouay | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Chaetophractus sp. | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Euphractus sexcinctus | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Priodontes maximus | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Total |
159 (100) |
18 (100) |
| Sex | ||
| M | 72 (45.3) | 4 (22.2) |
| F | 71 (44.7) | 12 (66.7) |
| Unknown† | 16 (10.1) | 0 |
| Total |
159 (100) |
18 (100) |
| Tissues tested | ||
| Liver | 66 (41.5) | 2 (11.1) |
| Muscle | 37 (23.3) | 13 (72.2) |
| Spleen | 31 (19.5) | 3 (16.7) |
| Unknown | 16 (10.1) | 0 |
| Lysate | 4 (2.5) | 0 |
| Heart and kidney | 2 (1.3) | 0 |
| Kidney | 2 (1.3) | 0 |
| Heart | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Total |
159 (100) |
18 (100) |
| Preservation method | ||
| Frozen | 77 (48.4) | 4 (22.2) |
| Ethanol 95% | 55 (34.6) | 13 (72.2) |
| Ethanol 70% | 17 (10.7) | 0 |
| DMSO | 9 (5.7) | 1 (5.6) |
| Ethanol 90% | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Total |
159 (100) |
18 (100) |
| DNA concentration, ng/µL | ||
| Mean | 19 | 15.63 |
| SD | 27.3 | 12.2 |
| Range |
0.0041–218 |
0.0041–43 |
| Country of origin | ||
| United States | 109 (68.6) | 16 (88.9) |
| Paraguay | 24 (15.1) | 1 (5.6) |
| Argentina | 10 (6.3) | 0 |
| Bolivia | 7(4.4) | 1 (5.6) |
| Peru | 3 (1.9) | 0 |
| Brazil | 2 (1.3) | 0 |
| Unknown | 2 (1.3) | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Panama | 1 (0.6) | 0 |
| Total | 159 (100) | 18 (100) |
*All samples tested negative for M. lepromatosis. DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide. †Unknown indicates no data were available.