ANCIENT DISEASE HAS FAR NORTH MEDICAL TEAMS CONCERNED

LEPROSY has emerged yet again in the Far North.

Health officials have confirmed they are managing a new case of leprosy in the Torres Strait, taking the total number of cases in the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service region to three this year.

Public health data released by Queensland Health shows there have not been any cases of the disease in the Far North for at least a decade.

Cairns tropical public health services director Dr Richard Gair said all three cases were being managed for the condition and were considered to be of low infection risk to the general community.

He said there were no known links between the latest case, and the previous two cases.

The health service has begun contact tracing and screening anyone who may have come in contact with the patient.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by slow-growing bacteria.

It is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases. The disease can lead to disfiguring skin sores, cause numbness, and result in loss of tissue.

Treatment for leprosy is prolonged and can take between six and 24 months to complete, depending on each individual case.

In addition, close prolonged contacts of leprosy cases require annual clinical and laboratory follow up for six years to ensure they have not acquired any infection.

According to the World Health Organisation, there were 211,973 new cases of leprosy reported globally in 2015.