“Travel to Florida should be considered when conducting leprosy contact tracing in any state.”. Florida was among the top reporting states. And Central Florida accounted for 81 per cent of cases in the state. That makes up one-fifth of reported cases in the entire country.Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is an age-old infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae that affects the skin and nerves.
. The bacteria attack the nerves, which can become swollen under the skin and cause the affected areas to lose the ability to sense touch and pain. If left untreated, it can also result in paralysis of the hands and feet.Leprosy is not highly contagious and although it’s not exactly known how it transmits between people, the CDC said it may happen when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria.
Global News reached out to Health Canada for comment about current leprosy rates in the country but did not hear back at the time of publication.Historically, leprosy has been rare in the U.S., with its peak occurrence happening around 1983, as reported by the CDC. Following that, there was a significant decline in the number of documented cases annually from the 1980s through 2000.
The notable difference is that previous cases primarily involved individuals who immigrated from leprosy-endemic regions around the world. However, according to the CDC’s report, during the period from 2015 to 2020, approximately 34 peent of new cases seemed to have contracted the disease locally, raising concerns about potential transmission within the U.S.
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