Leprosy on the rise in Florida

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning over the growing number of leprosy cases in Florida.

A new report says leprosy – or Hansen’s Disease – could be endemic in Central Florida.

The last full year of data was 2020 when there were 159 new cases. nationwide

Almost 20% of all cases were in Central Florida.

More than one-third of new cases during 2015–20 ‘appeared to have locally acquired the disease,’ the CDC said.

The data points to ‘mounting epidemiological evidence supporting leprosy as an endemic process in the south-eastern United States.’

“Travel to this area, even in the absence of other risk factors, should prompt consideration of leprosy in the appropriate clinical context,” the CDC said.

Leprosy is spread by moisture droplets passed through the air.

It affects the skin and peripheral nerves.

The CDC suggests ‘environmental reservoirs as a potential source of transmission.’

Central Florida accounted for 81% of all the cases reported in the state.

Although leprosy brings up connotations of severe skin lesions and the stigma of leper colonies, as in the distant past, it is fully curable with medication.

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