You were bitten by a what?!

November 1, 2007 11:05 AM

If a teenager is bitten by an armadillo and the skin is broken, shouldn't the animal be trapped to make sure it isn't rabid, or the teen be innoculated?

Recently, during a game of Manhunt in a local park that had just re-opened to the public after construction of a picnic area, a soccer player frightened an armadillo, which then bit him on the calf. Another armadillo also reportedly changed direction and started rolling straight toward a player who disturbed it in a similar manner, evidently with the intention of attacking the intruder.

Since I haven't used up my question this week: What course of action should have been taken after the bite, given the behavior of the animal? Isn't aggressive behavior out of character for armadilloes, even scared ones? Also, have there been documemented cases of rabid armadillos?

posted by misha to science & nature (23 comments total)

Worse. Armadillos carry leprosy.
posted by electroboy at 11:11 AM on November 1, 2007

er, it is not greatly contagious but armadillos can carry and have leprosy, but this place seems to say you only have to worry about that if you eat it, it also seems to suggest that armadillos are not particularly prone to rabies. There is a shitton of info on that page so it might be good to read through it. (my short take, things will be fine, most likely)
posted by edgeways at 11:13 AM on November 1, 2007

The first google result for "armadillos rabies" says that they can carries rabies and that armadillos rarely bite and should not be aggressive towards humans, or active during the day. Your friend should definitely get it checked out by a doctor. About half of armadillos have leprosy, by the way, so he should ask his doctor about that as well.
posted by hindmost at 11:13 AM on November 1, 2007

Yes, armadillos can carry rabies. Someone just died from untreated rabies in Minnesota, so it is still a real issue.

Additionally armadillos are known carriers of leprosy.

You should definitely consult a physician today.
posted by OlderThanTOS at 11:16 AM on November 1, 2007

I think the rule of thumb nearly always if the skin is broken by a wild (or tame if the owner doesn't know the status) animal is to seek medical attention for any needed shots. better safe than dead.
posted by zennoshinjou at 11:20 AM on November 1, 2007

Nthing going to a doctor, now. Aside from rabies and leprosy issues, animal bites can become infected very easily.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:27 AM on November 1, 2007

When I was in college, I was bitten by a dog that was actually being walked by it's owner. After the fact, I went to the doctor to get a tetnus shot. Because we didn't know how to track down the dog, my doctor decided to have me treated for rabies just to be safe. (It hurt like a mofo!)

Anyway, as they say on here: Go see a doctor.
posted by lannanh at 11:27 AM on November 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd think the presumption is that the teen is to be inoculated, in the absence of certainty that the trapped wild animal is the same one that bit.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 11:29 AM on November 1, 2007

Rabies vaccines have changed a lot. Used to require injections directly into the body cavity, which is why they "hurt like a mofo".

These days they're just injections into the arm, little different than tetanus shots.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:34 AM on November 1, 2007

Thanks, hive mind. It has been bothering me that perhaps more should have been done at the time of the bite for this kid.
posted by misha at 11:34 AM on November 1, 2007

Just a bit more: a woman I used to date was bitten by a feral cat. They never found it, so she went through a rabies sequence. It didn't really affect her that I noticed; no bed time, no substantial pain that she complained about.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:35 AM on November 1, 2007

I wouldn't freak out about the leprosy. The figure I've seen for rates of infection is 20%, not 50%, and I've also read that it is generally confined to their feet. (Probably it serves as a deterrent to predators, since the feet are a potential point of attack in the rolled up up state; I wonder if unwise attacks on the feet of armadillos by coyotes or wild dogs have caused unfortunate monsters which have given rise to the Chupacabra stories.)
posted by jamjam at 11:56 AM on November 1, 2007

Leprosy is not very infectious and it is easily treated with antibiotics. If caught early, it leaves no permanent damage.

It's important to test for it, and treat it if found, but don't be paranoid about it. I'd be much more worried about rabies. If rabies is left untreated until symptoms appear, death is nearly certain -- slow, painful death.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:07 PM on November 1, 2007

This story sounds sketchy. Armadillos don't roll up into a ball and chase after people. I would suspect that the kids were harassing the creature and it was defending itself. They have little peg-like teeth too. If one of the kids had their skin broken, I'd suspect the powerful digging claws over a bite.
posted by cephalopodcast at 12:36 PM on November 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

Rabies vaccines have changed a lot. Used to require injections directly into the body cavity, which is why they "hurt like a mofo".

These days they're just injections into the arm, little different than tetanus shots.

This was about 10 years ago, and it was given at the "site of the bite" not the 25 shots to the stomach or whatever it used to be a long time ago. Mine happened to be in my hand, so there was a LOT of fluid injected. My hand looked like a hamburger patty w/ 5 sausages attached. That's why it still hurt.
posted by lannanh at 1:02 PM on November 1, 2007

We found a bat in my son's room and agonized over what to do. With no evidence of a bite, the health dept, and our pediatrician recommended a full treatment for the disease. Without testing the animal you can't rule out rabies 100% and if symptoms show up he'll die. Not worth the risk however slight it may be
posted by hilby at 1:23 PM on November 1, 2007

I have had both sets of rabies shots, 14 in the stomach in the 1960's as a kid; and then two years ago as an adult I had the easy set of two, spaced a week apart, in the arm.

However, if you haven't ever had a rabies shot, go to your ER or a doctor and start the series. These days, it is very easy. The hardest thing is to remember to go back and get the next shot.
posted by chocolatetiara at 1:25 PM on November 1, 2007

I thought the armadillo rolling in a ball after another teen sounded fishy to me, too, but the biting incident was witnessed by an adult coach. It's not my child who was affected, but I am trying to get in touch with the soccer coach to make sure the teen's family followed up.
posted by misha at 2:07 PM on November 1, 2007

I wouldn't worry about leprosy. I'd worry about the cleanliness of the wound in general, though. Armadillos are not likely to be rabid, but they can be pretty aggressive (mostly male-on-male violence during the breeding season). They have teeth, but the teeth aren't very big nor are they near the front of the jaw. The bite (if it happened as described) would be more of a blunt puncture wound. The teeth are basically little pegs, made for crushing insects. They also have relatively weak jaws. The claws would be a much more likely point of injury, as noted, but if a bite was witnessed, well, I suppose I can't say that it couldn't possibly happen.

Rolling into a ball? Not unless it was a South American three-banded armadillo. None of the other armadillo species can do this.

(Figured I'd weigh in, even though edgeways already linked to my website above.)
posted by caution live frogs at 2:27 PM on November 1, 2007

As a Texan I was going to comment on this, but the "armadillo rolling" for someone sounded so ridiculous that I'm going to assume that there is too much second-hand hearsay going on here.
posted by hodyoaten at 2:59 PM on November 1, 2007

so. wait. leprosy, hey?

so those armadillo races at the florida state fair that i always participated in, as a child? where we'd crawl on all fours behind an armadillo blowing on their tails to make them run faster? not a good idea?

huh.
posted by wreckingball at 7:18 PM on November 1, 2007

Hmmm. Don't forget to get the Armadillo some shots too.
posted by DrtyBlvd at 7:06 AM on November 2, 2007

It has been bothering me that perhaps more should have been done at the time of the bite for this kid.

Well, the good news is that the rabies virus travels really slowly toward the central nervous system (where it causes the trouble), so if this wasn't too long ago, it's not too late to do something. I know nothing about armadillo behavior or how they react to having rabies, but the only way to know for sure is to capture the animal, euthanize it, and test its brain tissue. Testing for rabies in live humans is done more indirectly (saliva, hair, skin tissue), and is not entirely reliable, which is why the recommendation is to get a rabies shot just to be safe, if you've been bitten by a possible carrier. There are also symptoms that can indicate an infection, such as flu-like symptoms and spasms in the bitten area, but these are not guaranteed to show up, IIRC.
posted by zennie at 3:15 AM on November 3, 2007