This sounds really familiar, but I'm having a little trouble with my random access memory at the moment - failure to access. Maybe something will pop out at a later time.

TM

Upon further investigation, I need to amend the question. For the most part, it is only armadillos and humans, but there have been a few instances of this in chimps and mangabey monkeys in Africa.

I'll give further hints in a bit. Just wanted to be sure I was accurate, so I wouldn't be exiled in the future-ha.

Running late this am - just had to check in, though. My cousin in MS sent me a great pic on an armadillo in her back yard - are they as far north as VA, Cyn?

Well, it wouldn't be the opposable thumb thing, cause I think that would be all primates. Hmmm..off to work to think about it!!

Nancy.

Hmmmmmmmm, nothing in the ol' memory bank about this so I'll be waiting for those hints.

Annette

No, we don't have any here in VA, at least not yet-lol.

Not opposable thumb.

I have given a few clues, although they are rather obscure. I will try to come up with some more clues that won't give it away completely, but that will give you a better chance, so you won't banish me to an island somewhere away from all of you!

Cynthia

Hmmmmmm, I may have just picked up on your last hint, I watched a movie on TMC recently, Charlton Heston and James A. Michener are drifting in and out of the fog I call my brain am I on the right track :).

Annette

I may have caught your clues, Cynthia. If I am right, the condition's modern name came from a physician whose last name is only one letter away from that of the Muppets creator.

TM

There is a Biblical significance, which led St. Francis of Assisi to devote his life to working with a certain group of people.

It looks like I'm on the right track :).

Annette

Interesting Lorna. Didn't know St. Francis devoted his life to people with this disease, but did know he is said to have embraced one he met. Now, if anyone else needs a clue although it seems you are all on the right track, Father Damien is the one who always comes to mind for me when I think of this subject. Never thought of armadillos before though!

Cynthia

Huh, OK. Father Damien cinches it for me. Wasn't there an island in Hawaii? I never knew about the St. Francis connection - I actually spent one night in Assisi, though, not to brag. I saw the 'Porziuncula' the little chapel that he 'fixed'. Sorry, I do digress. Fuzzy you say - never thought of it that way.

Nancy.

Molokai was an isolated colony in the Hawaiian Islands.

Ah yes, Molokai. Thanks Lorna.

Nancy.

I think you all got it-that armadillos are, for the most part, the only animals other than humans that get and carry leprosy or as TM intimated, Hansen's disease.

**** for TM, Annette, Nancy, and Lorna!

Approximately one in six nine-banded armadillos in Texas and Louisiana carry leprosy. The armadillos had to have been infected by humans originally as leprosy did not exist in the Americas before Columbus arrived and armadillos are indigenous only in the New World.

There are approximately 250,000 new cases around the world each year and about 150 in the US. Those in the US share the genome of the strain found in armadillos. Aren't you glad you don't have them in Canada?!

Happily, antibiotics today prevents the devastating effects of the disease, although it can take a year of treatment to cure.

Happy Sunday all and wishing everyone a marvelous week.

Cynthia

Thanks for the stars, Cynthia. It was a great question, and I wouldn't have remembered it without your good clues.

TM

Hey, thanks for the stars - I am nothing without clues, however!! I was on Skype last night with my cuz in AZ. She also knew immediately about the leprosy connection. I wonder if this is something that Southerners(?) warn their children about??

Nancy.

Some people eat armadillos! Their range has been extending northward. They are being seen in mid-Western states where they previously had never been seen.

Apparently they have even been seen in North Carolina. Health officials are warning against eating them! With their claws, I would think people would general try to stay away-wow, nasty looking. Overall, though, I guess they are sort of cute. Wonder what it is that makes us both susceptible to leprosy.