Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The 54-year-old landscaper visited the Orlando Dermatology Clinic due to a painful rash, which prompted Dr. Rajeev Nattu to take 5 or 6 biopsies.
The biopsy results confirmed Natto’s hunch, who diagnosed the findings as “what you read in your textbooks”: leprosy.
However, the man did not have the obvious risk factors that most doctors would expect of a hard-to-detect infection.
After noticing a handful of other cases in the area, the dermatologist suspected that Central Florida might be an unexpected hotspot for leprosy.
In the meantime, his team is alerting other health care providers that there are similar cases in the area.
According to a research letter Natto and his colleagues published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Central Florida had the highest rates of leprosy in the United States.
In 2020, 159 cases were reported nationwide, compared to 200,000 new cases annually around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
The new letter says Central Florida was responsible for 81% of all cases of leprosy in Florida, and about 1 in 5 cases of leprosy nationwide.
It is also known as Hansen’s disease. It is caused by a type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae.
Leprosy mainly affects the skin and surrounding nerves.
Scientists still aren’t entirely sure how it spreads. However, most of them believe that it is transmitted through droplets, especially when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Its symptoms include a rash, and a lack of sensation due to nerve injury.
Armadillos can carry this bacteria, too.
Genetic studies have linked human infection to leprosy strains carried by armadillos, although it is not clear how humans counteract the bacteria carried by armadillos.
Many patients cannot recall any direct contact with these animals.
And the US Centers for Disease Control and Control stated that the disease is not transmitted by shaking hands or sitting next to an infected person.
However, it requires close, long-term contact with someone who has not been treated for leprosy over several months.
It is reported that about 95% of people are not susceptible to infection because their immune systems are genetically programmed to resist it.
Leprosy is a rare disease in the United States.
Historically, most cases of leprosy in the United States occurred in people who traveled to countries with a high incidence of the disease, or who were exposed to armadillos that carry the disease.
However, there are cases in which doctors cannot determine how a person was exposed to the bacteria.
In the new report, the 54-year-old told his doctors he had never left Florida or been exposed to armadillos.
He said he had not interacted with people from countries with high rates of leprosy, although he did spend a lot of time outdoors.
Experts agree that leprosy has become endemic in the region.
This shouldn’t cause a public health panic, said Dr. Nicole Iovine, a senior epidemiologist at University of Florida Hospital Health Chands.
She explained that the word “endemic” simply means that there are regular levels of disease in an area, but it does not mean that rates are rising.
If left untreated, the disease can paralyze the hands and feet, cause blindness, and lead to shortening of the fingers and toes.
The infection is curable.
Treatment includes a course of antibiotics that must be taken over a period of a few years.
One of the challenges of leprosy is how slow the bacteria can grow.
And the Centers for Disease Control and Control indicated that it may take about 20 years to develop symptoms of the disease, such as rashes or ulcers, and others.
Thus, it can be difficult to trace the source and spread of leprosy infection.
2023-08-03 06:42:22
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