Leprosy spreading in Central Florida

But disease is still rare and highly treatable

Local doctors say Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, is spreading in Central Florida

Central Florida dermatologists Dr. Charles Dunn and Dr. Rajiv Nathoo published a letter in a journal run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailing their experience with a patient who contracted it despite never having left the state.

U.S. cases of Hansen’s disease — a slow-growing bacterial infection that primarily affects the skin, nerves and mucous membranes — are often limited to people who caught it in other countries. Worldwide, there are over 200,000 cases annually, according to the World Health Organization. But a growing number of patients appear to have caught the disease locally, despite an absence of other traditional risk factors. No one really knows how.

“Why I think this report is really important is that we have a smattering of cases here in Central Florida that we don’t have a particular finger on the pulse of where they got it from,” said Dunn, chief resident of the Kansas City University–Graduate Medical Education/Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Dermatology Residency program in Orlando.

Central Florida accounted for 80% of Florida leprosy cases in 2020, and the state accounted for almost one-fifth of the nation’s 159 cases that year, according to the National Hansen’s Disease Program.

The doctors emphasized that though cases are very gradually increasing, this is no reason for panic.

“We do not want to be spreading fear. That was not the purpose of the article, nor do we think it is a problem that is rampant or anything that needs to be addressed by anyone. … This is more an educational report for physicians,” said Nathoo, complex clinic director at Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery – Oviedo.

The disease is still rare in the U.S., highly treatable and not very contagious.

It requires months of close and prolonged contact with someone with untreated disease and more than 95% of people have natural immunity.

Once the infection is contracted, it can take up to 20 years for symptoms to show up because of how slowly the bacteria spreads, the CDC reports. Symptoms include discolored or red patches of skin, swelling, lumps or bumps that may feel numb or painless. It can be cured by antibiotics but, if left untreated for many years, it can lead to permanent damage like paralysis. It’s rarely fatal.

“Traveling to Central Florida to go to Disney does not equate to a higher risk of leprosy,” said Dunn.