Florida health officials said three people in Volusia County in east-central Florida were diagnosed with leprosy over the last five months.

They said two of the cases are thought to be linked to recent contact with nine-banded armadillos, which are carriers of the affliction, also called Hansen's Disease, in southern U.S. states.

Like Us on Facebook

A scientific paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2011 pinpointed this armadillo as a carrier of leprosy after analyzing the genomes of one wild armadillo and three American leprosy patients.

Leprosy is transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth and through close contact with someone who is sick. The leprosy bacteria has an incubation period that can last up to 20 years before the symptoms emerge because it multiplies slowly in the human body.

Over time, leprosy damages tissue and can cause disfigurement of the skin, bone and cartilage. Disfigured features and claw hands are common once the disease progresses.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are some 100 new cases of leprosy each year in the U.S. Most of these cases are in southern states, including Florida, Texas, and Louisiana.

Between 1994 and 2011, there were 2,300 new cases of leprosy diagnosed in the U.S.

But leprosy remains rare in the U.S. and only 80 people report infections each year, said the CDC. Florida typically sees eight to 10 leprosy cases per year.

Leprosy is more common in California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York and Texas, said a 2009 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration.