The federal health agency stated in a report that about one-fifth of all leprosy cases in the United States are found in central Florida and that about 81 percent of all cases in the country are located in Florida.
Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease also known as Hansen’s disease, is caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria and has appeared in literature and religious texts—notably the Bible—since ancient times. It affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes.
Within the United States, leprosy has historically been uncommon, and most cases came from individuals who had recently emigrated to the country. But since 2000, cases have gradually been rising, doubling in the Southeastern United States over the past decade, according to the CDC.
It also noted that about 34 percent of all cases reported from 2015 to 2020 have been locally transmitted.
“Florida, USA, has witnessed an increased incidence of leprosy cases lacking traditional risk factors. Those trends, in addition to decreasing diagnoses in foreign-born persons, contribute to rising evidence that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern United States. Travel to Florida should be considered when conducting leprosy contact tracing in any state,” the CDC stated in its latest report.
The agency stated that some cases in central Florida had “no clear evidence of zoonotic exposure or traditionally known risk factors,” noting that there was a reported case of lepromatous leprosy in central Florida in a man who didn’t have “risk factors for known transmission routes.”
The CDC is warning doctors to investigate leprosy when examining individuals who have traveled to Florida or elsewhere in the Southeastern United States.
The Florida Department of Health requires medical practitioners to report leprosy in Florida by the next business day, according to the CDC. It noted that contact tracing is also critical so as to identify sources and reduce its transmission.
“In our case, contact tracing was done by the National Hansen’s Disease Program and revealed no associated risk factors, including travel, zoonotic exposure, occupational association, or personal contacts,” it stated.
“The absence of traditional risk factors in many recent cases of leprosy in Florida … who spend a great deal of time outdoors, supports the investigation into environmental reservoirs as a potential source of transmission.”
The report comes weeks after the CDC issued an alert about locally transmitted malaria in Florida. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite and is spread via certain types of mosquitoes.
“It is not known exactly how Hansen’s disease spreads between people. Scientists currently think it may happen when a person with Hansen’s disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria,” the agency stated. “Prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months is needed to catch the disease.”
In my opinion, when we allow untreated infected infectious, leprosy illegals unchecked, unvetted, into our porous borders from third world countries, this is what we get!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's because of NOT setting boundaries, not enforcing our Constitutional Laws, and we have corrupt dumb-asse@ in Congress not preventing that which compromises America; this includes all types of nasty diseases, drugs, criminals, trafficking's, terrorists/weaponry, brought and come here, IMO! Then when crime rises, they want our guns? No, they want our Freedom gone using excuses from crisis's THEY CREATED, PURE EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!
GOD we need LESS GOV.. MORE QUALIFIED, GOD LOVING INTELLIGENT PEOPLE REPRESENTING THIS NATION SERVING THE AMERICAN CITIZENS, IMO! We have had Tyrants that serve themselves and it is becoming more apparent, in my opinion. Something needs to happen to end stupid, right?
No one with brains wants this ineptness to continue, so pray, vote, and know this must be made right.