Expert: No need to panic about leprosy in Florida

Cases of leprosy are increasing in Florida. Dermatologist Andrea Maderal puts that information into reassuring context.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report this week warning that the central part of the state is seeing the majority of cases statewide, and one-fifth of all new cases across the country.

And unlike previous cases of leprosy—also known as Hansen’s disease—researchers are still trying to determine how exactly patients are getting the infection.

While in the past, patients diagnosed with leprosy had often traveled to another country where the disease is more prevalent, or they had some contact with the nine-banded armadillo—known to carry the bacteria that causes leprosy—a recent case has not been tied to those two factors. This prompted CDC officials to conclude that the bacteria causing leprosy may have become endemic, or it may now be found naturally in Florida.

Hansen’s disease is an infection caused by a bacteria from the Mycobacterium leprae complex that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system, the CDC reports. Those who contract the infection often have a skin rash that typically involves a loss of sensation, says Maderal, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and director of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Hansen’s Disease Program, which is one of 16 federally funded programs across the nation. To confirm that the rash is leprosy, typically dermatologists need to do a skin biopsy, Maderal points out.

And while headlines on Tuesday suggested a dangerous surge in cases, Maderal cautions that Hansen’s disease is still extremely rare, and it is treatable. Annually, only about 150 people get Hansen’s disease in the US and about 200,000 people are diagnosed across the globe.

Here, Maderal addresses questions about the outbreak and the disease: