Florida has one of the highest numbers of new leprosy cases in the nation, according to a new research letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There is definitely leprosy in the United States,” said Dr. Nicole Iovine. He is a hospital epidemiologist and infectious disease physician at the University of Florida. To many, leprosy may seem like a problem from biblical times. But Iovine said the disease still exists. In fact, the CDC letter says leprosy may be endemic in central Florida. “Endemic means something that is prevalent and always present, and it can be at low levels,” Iovine said. The CDC letter cites a study by the National Leprosy Program that listed the following states as having the most new leprosy cases in 2020: Florida California Louisiana Hawaii New York Texas This state list is the most recent. Based on data for 2020, the year of What data are available? Florida has had 15 confirmed cases of leprosy so far this year, according to state data. Most of those cases are in Brevard County. In fact, Brevard County has had the highest number of new leprosy cases in the state since 2011. And he said in 2020, Brevard County accounted for more than 12% of all new leprosy cases nationwide. What happens if someone gets leprosy?Iovine said leprosy has two main symptoms he said. “One of them is where she develops pigmented lesions on the skin, which can be scaly. There is also,” she said. Another of her presentations is more dramatic. “There are people who have a lot of nodular lesions like this on their face and the bridge of their nose has collapsed. It can be very ugly on their hands and ears,” she said. Iovine said leprosy is different from a typical rash because it causes loss of sensation in the area. “If you have something like an inch on your arm and you can’t feel it, it’s not a typical itchy rash,” she said. So how do people get leprosy? Iovine said it’s usually caused by armadillos. “You have to have physical contact with an infected armadillo,” she says. “If there is aerosolization. So let’s say you’re driving some kind of farm equipment and you run over a bunch of armadillos. Armadillos aerosolize and you can inhale it.” US “There is an active lesion, Direct contact with someone who may be wearing the garment,” Iovine said. “But again, in the United States, things like that are very rare.” Fortunately, there is a cure for leprosy. Iovine, she said, antibiotics are very effective.Top headlines: Hear news and weather headlines on the WESH 2 podcast “Listen to Her Hiss”: Wild video showing alligator crashing through man’s fence in Cocoa Beach Invest 96-L development more chances
Florida has one of the highest numbers of new leprosy cases in the nation, according to a new report. A research letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is definitely leprosy in the United States,” said Dr. Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist and infectious disease physician at the University of Florida.
To many, leprosy may seem like a problem from biblical times. But Iovine said the disease still exists. In fact, the CDC letter says leprosy may be endemic in central Florida.
“Endemic means something that is prevalent and always present, and it can be at low levels,” Iovine said.
The CDC letter cites a National Leprosy Program survey that lists the following states as having the most new leprosy cases in 2020:
- florida
- California
- Louisiana
- Hawaii
- new york
- texas
The list of states is based on 2020 data, the latest year for which data is available.
Florida has had 15 confirmed cases of leprosy so far this year, according to state data. Most of those cases are in Brevard County.
In fact, Brevard County has had the highest number of new leprosy cases in the state since 2011. And in 2020, Brevard County accounted for more than 12% of his total new leprosy cases nationwide.
What happens if someone gets leprosy?
Iovine said leprosy has two main symptoms.
“One of them is where pigmented lesions occur on the skin. They can be scaly. They can occur anywhere on the body. ‘ she said.
Another presentation is more dramatic.
“There are people who have a lot of nodular lesions like this on their face and the bridge of their nose has collapsed. It can be very ugly on their hands and ears,” she said.
Iovine said leprosy is different from a typical rash because it causes loss of sensation in the area.
“If you have something like an inch on your arm and you can’t feel it, it’s not a typical itchy rash,” she said.
So how do you get infected with leprosy?
Iovine said armadillos are usually to blame.
“You have to have physical contact with an infected armadillo,” she says. “If you have aerosolization. So let’s say you’re driving some kind of farm equipment and run over a flock of armadillos that you can aerosolize and inhale.”
She said leprosy can also be transmitted from person to person, but is less common in the United States.
“Direct contact with someone who has an active lesion and may be wearing clothing,” Iovine said. “But then again, in the United States, things like that are very rare.”
Fortunately, leprosy has a cure. Iovine said antibiotics are very effective.
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