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What evidence links nine-banded armadillos to some leprosy cases in the southern United States?

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Sign reading Gandhiji Prem Nivas Leprosy Centre Titagarh conducted by Missionaries of Charity, with a crucifix above the sign on a decorated building facade. — leprosy The Gandhiji Prem Nivas is a center for people with leprosy that was established by Mother Teresa in 1958 and is run by the Missionaries of Charity in Titagarh, India.

Evidence linking nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) to leprosy cases in the southern United States is based on genetic and epidemiological findings. Research has shown that both wild armadillos and humans in this region can be infected with a nearly identical strain of Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium responsible for the disease.1

Furthermore, some individuals diagnosed with leprosy in these areas have reported direct contact with armadillos, supporting the theory that the disease may be a zoonotic disease—an illness transmitted between humans and other vertebrates. Because the leprosy bacillus cannot be grown in laboratory culture media, the natural susceptibility of the nine-banded armadillo has made it a vital model for studying the disease, despite the ongoing mystery surrounding its exact transmission mechanisms.12