The story of a rise in leprosy cases in Florida caught my attention because the headlines were screaming about a travel advisory issued by the CDC. Then I stumbled upon a story from Forbes that said there is no such travel advisory. What’s the story, Shirley?
The journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reported that cases of leprosy are on the rise in Florida, particularly central Florida, which represents “an endemic location for leprosy.” Yikes!
“Travel to this area, even in the absence of other risk factors, should prompt consideration of leprosy in the appropriate clinical context,” said the report appearing in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, which is published by Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC).
However, contrary to headlines in multiple news outlets, the CDC has not issued a travel advisory for Florida. “Emerging Infectious Diseases is published by CDC, but the authors are often not affiliated with CDC,” an agency spokesperson tells Forbes.
Oh. Ok. So everyone jumped the gun and assumed the CDC was issuing a travel advisory since it was talking about travel to the area. The disease, which dates back to mentions in the Bible’s Old Testament and the third chapter of the Torah, has been chronicled forever but it has always been rare in the United States. It’s also known as Hansen’s disease and it is an infectious disease. It affects skin and the nervous system.
The United States has seen a gradual increase in cases of leprosy since 2000. Florida accounts for a disproportionate number of cases. In 2020, Florida reported 27 out of 159 new leprosy cases diagnosed in the United States. A year later, 13 leprosy cases were reported in Florida. Then, during the entire year of 2022, only eight new cases were reported by the Florida Department of Health.
Alas, cases are on the rise again. Florida has averaged more than two new cases per month since the beginning of 2023. Sixteen cases have been reported from January through July. More than half of them have been in Brevard and Volusia counties along the Atlantic coast.
“Leprosy was once feared as a highly contagious and devastating disease, but now we know it doesn’t spread easily and treatment is very effective” with a combination of antibiotics, according to the CDC website. “However, if left untreated, the nerve damage can result in crippling of hands and feet, paralysis, and blindness.”
“Prolonged person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets is the most widely recognized route of transmission,” the Emerging Infectious Diseases article says, noting “there is some support for the theory that international migration of persons with leprosy is a potential source” of transmission.
There you go. Don’t panic if you are traveling to Florida. It isn’t easy to get. Legacy media and other journalists seem to have gotten it wrong – shocker, I know. One primary care doctor suggested that no one needs to be scared of getting leprosy. However, if you get skin rashes or skin lesions, go to the doctor and get checked out.
The numbers in southeastern states have doubled in the last decade. Is it due to tropically warm weather? International travelers carrying it into the United States? I don’t know. Just carry on as usual and remember that more often than not, you have to take stories from the media with a giant grain of salt.
Read the full article here