merica much later, being South America the last part of the continent to be colonized by man about 14,000 years ago.44, 45 The discovery of armadillos from Louisiana naturally infected with M.leprae, SNP type 3 strain, originating from Europe and North of Africa, is an indicative that those animals were contaminated by human sources.19 The M. leprae bacillus was probably carried to the New World a