This Creature Is Eyed Amid Spike in Fla.'s Leprosy Cases

Florida health officials are tracking an unusual problem: Leprosy cases are ticking up, and armadillos appear to be part of the story. The state confirmed 36 cases of Hansen's disease (another name for leprosy) in 2025, 27 likely acquired within Florida, and many in the central part of the state, Gizmodo reports. Seventeen cases have been reported so far this year. Researchers say nine-banded armadillos in the Southeast can naturally harbor the bacteria that cause leprosy and may transmit it to humans.

The curable disease remains uncommon and difficult to catch: About 95% of people are naturally resistant, and infection typically requires months of close exposure. Florida's surgeon general recently stressed that this isn't a high-incidence crisis, per WFTV, though it could still be endemic, meaning a disease that "has a consistent presence in a specific area," notes WYFF. Still, some cases have no clear source, raising the possibility of transmission through environmental exposure, with armadillos and their droppings helping the bacteria persist in soil, per Gizmodo.