"Locally Acquired" Disease Warning in the United States!

"Locally Acquired"

Disease Warning in the United States!

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

has warned that locally acquired cases of leprosy are on the rise in central Florida.

It accounts for 81% of

reported cases in the state and one fifth in the country.

• The CDC said in a press release Monday that leprosy is usually transmitted to

• the United States by immigrants from areas

• where the disease is endemic

but more than a third of cases reported in 

the southeastern United States between 2015 and 2020 were locally acquired.

The statement cited one example of :

• a man who sought treatment in a dermatology clinic

• for a painful rash that began in his limbs but extended to

• his torso and face.

The man did not travel abroad or within the United States

nor did he have contact with immigrants or known leprosy patients

suggesting he had contracted the disease in central Florida.

Our situation adds to the growing body of :

literature indicating that central Florida is an endemic site for leprosy

the CDC stated.

The Agency warned that "travel to this area

even in the absence of other risk factors

should stimulate consideration of leprosy in the appropriate clinical context.

Leprosy

also known as Hansen's disease

has emerged since at least 600 BC, the most common day in Brazil

India :

parts of Africa and Southeast Asia.

It is thought to spread through prolonged contact with an infected person

cause a painful rash and change in skin colour

and can lead to muscle wasting :

nerve damage and paralysis.

His antibiotic treatment has been since the mid-20th century, although it can leave patients permanently deformed or physically vulnerable if they are not treated as early as possible.

Cases in the United States peaked in 1983

before falling significantly until the early 2000s.

However :

• the number of cases reported in the southeastern United States

• has doubled over the past decade, even as the number of

• cases nationwide remains relatively steady at between 160

and 216 annually. 

• Some 159 cases were reported in

• the United States in 2020, according to the Department of

• Health and Human Services.

Worldwide :

the number of cases reported annually has fallen from more than

5 million in the 1980s to 200000 by 2020

according to the World Health Organization.