WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people about a rise in cases of leprosy, many of which have been linked to central Florida.
But it's treatable and curable and not all that contagious.
"What do you know about leprosy?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Thalia Diamandoulos, who was at Palm Beach International Airport traveling back home to Connecticut.
"Not too much," Diamandoulos said. "I would like to see what's going on now that you've brought it to my attention."
State
Florida sees increase in leprosy cases, CDC publication says
The CDC reports that one out of every five leprosy cases nationally have been connected to the central Florida area.
"I feel like it's never-ending lately. The past like five years there's been all these sicknesses, so just add another one to the list is kind of nuts, it's scary for sure," Diamandoulos said.
"What do you know about leprosy?" Lopez asked Cofi Jordan, who was returning home from Denver with her grandson.
"I think it's a skin disease," Jordan said. "I thought it was something that you don't even get anymore."
Cases of leprosy have more than doubled in the last decade, and more thn 80% of cases reported in the Sunshine State stemmed back to central Florida, according to the CDC.
"Leprosy is an infection that mostly affects nerves on our skin and it can cause a multitude of skin rashes," Dr. Kleper De Almeida, an infectious disease specialist at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, said. "Leprosy could cause loss of sensation in different body parts which can lead to deformities, on very rare occasions if someone does not have access to healthcare, it could lead to death."
He said the last person he saw with leprosy was 15 years ago.
"It requires intense contact," De Almeida said. "It's not that just by sitting beside someone who has leprosy that you would've been exposed."
He said leprosy is believed to be traced back to travel to foreign countries, and people who may have had contact with armadillos, which are known to carry the bacteria.
"Bringing awareness to the public and also awareness to the healthcare professionals, to our healthcare community that they should be considering leprosy, that's something that's not unheard of in the United States," De Almeida said.
About 95% of people are naturally immune to leprosy, according to the CDC.
