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 . has been implicated in a small number of HD cases, and clinical aspects of HD caused by are poorly characterized. HD is a recognized zoonosis through transmission of from armadillos, but the role of as a zoonotic agent of HD is unknown. was initially associated with diffuse lepromatous leprosy, but subsequent case reports and surveys have linked it to other forms of HD. HD caused by 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 HD case reports since 2008. 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 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 , and whether viable occurs in non-human sources.
BT - Frontiers in microbiology C1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34566911 DA - 01/2021 DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2021.698588 J2 - Front Microbiol LA - eng N2 -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 . has been implicated in a small number of HD cases, and clinical aspects of HD caused by are poorly characterized. HD is a recognized zoonosis through transmission of from armadillos, but the role of as a zoonotic agent of HD is unknown. was initially associated with diffuse lepromatous leprosy, but subsequent case reports and surveys have linked it to other forms of HD. HD caused by 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 HD case reports since 2008. 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 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 , and whether viable occurs in non-human sources.
PY - 2021 EP - 698588 T2 - Frontiers in microbiology TI - Mycobacterium lepromatosis as a Second Agent of Hansen's Disease. UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8461103/pdf/fmicb-12-698588.pdf VL - 12 SN - 1664-302X ER -