I was first alerted to this fact by my little brother, Tony. If you knew Tony, you would know he is a straight-shooter, whose words you could "take to the bank". He doesn't say something unless he knows it to be true.
So, we had lived here just a short while and I was telling him how Solomon had gotten face-to-face with an armadillo. (Long story, that will be a post for another day.) Then Tony says, very matter-of-factly, "You know you can get leprosy from armadillos".
I about fell out of my chair. It seemed too amazing to be true. The word leprosy strikes fear in my heart. As a child, we talked a lot about lepers in Sunday School, and it seemed to be the ultimate suffering, the ultimate curse.
I mentioned this idea to friends yesterday, and my friend with her Ph.D. (who loves to do research) sent me a link about leprosy and armadillos. These creatures do carry leprosy!
In Texas and Louisiana, 66% of people with leprosy report some kind of contact with armadillos.
Now you know. Please share this fascinating fact with friends over coffee, at the dry cleaners, wherever you can. You can thank Tony for this information. I am glad I know...Sol won't be face-to-face with an armadillo as long as I have my way. I MUST remember to ask Tony where he learned this. :)
4 comments:
really? really, really? our house backs up to a dense wooded area... we have them around often. I've never heard this... gotta check it out. Blogs can be so education ; )
I'll send the link to you. It is truly amazing to me.
yikes!
oh, this thing is creepy. : )
How in the world did Tony know
this? I remember hearing him say
this.. maybe it was on a John Wayne movie.
: )
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