ABSTRACT
TODAY, leprosy impairs the physical, social, and economic well-being of millions. Those who live in Third World countries suffer most, because living conditions are marginal and health care provision systems are undeveloped or disrupted by political ferment.
Subject(s)
Animals , Mice , Rats , Cercopithecidae , Clofazimine/therapeutic use , Leprosy/epidemiology , Leprosy/therapy , Leprosy/transmission , Disease Models, Animal , Mycobacterium leprae/isolation & purification , Pan troglodytes , Skin/microbiology , Sulfones/therapeutic use , United States , TemperatureABSTRACT
The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcicnctus Linn)(Figure 1) is one of approximately 20 species of armadillos comprising several genera. They belong to the Edentata. D novemcinctus ranges from Central Argentina through Central America, Mexico, the Gulf States, and north-ward into Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Georgia. Among the characteristics which make this animal a useful research model for lepromatous leprosy a) low body temperature (32 to 35C), b) regular production of monozygotic quadruplet young, and c) a long life-spain (estimated to be 15 years). Other biologic characteristics are a) delayed (14 to 16 weeks) implantation period of the blastocyst, b) gestation period of approximately 9 months, c) ability to build up an oxygen debt, and d) occasional variability in band numbers.