More cases of leprosy are being reported in Florida

In Florida, where typically only two-12 individuals are diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease each year, the presence of nine cases by late July has raised alarm, and officials are concerned that these cases may be linked to contact with armadillos. Doctors diagnosed the most recent case three weeks ago in Flagler County, on Florida’s east coast.

The health experts claim that each year, from 10 to 12 cases of leprosy are reported due to human contact with an armadillo.

A disease normally associated with creepy old stories about priests working among shunned freaks in the tropics is making a comeback in the state of Florida, all thanks to Florida’s growing taste for the meat of the armadillo.

According to USA TODAY, there’s a low risk of contracting the leprosy from armadillos, and most people coming into contact with them are unlikely to get the disease. What is worrisome is the fact that all the incriminated cases involved people who had come in direct contact with the armour shelled mammal.

“We catch more armadillos than we do any other species”, said Kyle Waltz, a wildlife trapper about the odd looking creatures covered in leathery armor.

Right now, residents and locals are being warned to stay away from the creatures.

That doesn’t mean you should canoodle with an armadillo, he notes.

In 2015, nine people from Florida were diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, which is the official name for leprosy.

Most cases of leprosy infections may remain symptomless, and the symptoms may take anywhere from 5 to 20 years to eventually manifest. Work on exporting shame to Florida is ongoing, and we hope to have the first treatments soon.

The good news is that leprosy is now very treatable with multi-drug therapy techniques.

During the 1980s, there were 5.8 million cases of leprosy reported on an yearly basis. As for animal to human transmission, it is suggested that the bacteria enters through breaks in the skin such as wounds, cuts, sores, or lesions. But while leprosy is extremely uncommon in the United States, it is worth nothing that there are parts of the world, from Angola to India to Madagascar and Brazil, where it’s a life-altering condition, according to the World Health Organization.

Since that time, they have documented the connection between armadillos and human Hansen’s disease cases in Louisiana and Texas.

For those infected, peripheral nerve damage affecting all members and organs in the body.

How is the disease spreading so quickly this year?