Leprosy Is Spreading in Florida
Source: newsweek
Updated Mar 21, 2024 at 4:22 PM EDT
Leprosy is on the rise again in the United States, particularly in Florida, concerning disease specialists.
According to the World Health Organization, about 200,000 cases of the disease occur every year in 120 countries worldwide and are often associated with contact with armadillos.
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Leprosy has a long history of stigma, mainly due to the impacts it can have on a victim's physical appearance. Until the mid-1900s, treatment wasn't available, meaning that the disease could progress to the point of causing severe physical deformities, including disfigured hands and feet, and changes to the appearance of the face and nose. These symptoms inspired such fear of contagion that leprosy patients were often socially excluded.
It is transmitted via respiratory droplets, often from close and prolonged contact with untreated individuals who have the active form of the disease. However, it is not highly contagious, and most people who are exposed to the bacterium do not develop leprosy..................................
Leprosy is treatable with multidrug therapy (MDT), which typically includes a combination of antibiotics such as dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent complications and reduce transmission of the disease. With timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the vast majority of leprosy cases can be cured, and deaths directly attributable to leprosy is now, thankfully, relatively rare.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/leprosy-cases-rising-florida-1882008
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Turbineguy
(37,337 posts)Dr. Joseph "Mengele" Ladapo won't like that.
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)reACTIONary
(5,770 posts)riversedge
(70,242 posts)but it seems more work is being done to develop a better vaccine.
Swede
(33,252 posts)nt
msongs
(67,413 posts)Comfortably_Numb
(3,809 posts)see one .
ananda
(28,865 posts)It's like they keep trying to outdo each other.
Warpy
(111,268 posts)Florida is worse.
You can trust me on that.
There are armadillos in Texas and the rest of the southeast. Most cases of Hansen's disease, AKA leprosy, are in people who hunt them, skin them and eat them.
I understand the meat is quite tasty. I'll pass.
ToxMarz
(2,169 posts)As long as there are chickens, I'll just stick with them.
Warpy
(111,268 posts)and is prepared accordingly. People cultivate the critters in South America.
I've eaten a wide variety of critter, including frog, grasshopper and rattlesnake. I'll pass on the armadillo.
Captain Zero
(6,806 posts)guess I should just google.
Warpy
(111,268 posts)The bacillus lives in the soil. You don't need to dine on undercooked armadillo to catch it.
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)Warpy
(111,268 posts)Maybe they live in the southern part of the state, where rivers tend to have water in them more often.
At least since 1979 when I first arrived in San Antonio.
NanaCat
(1,146 posts)It depends on what part of the state you're in. The further south you go, the more airborne they are.
Warpy
(111,268 posts)although my traveling days are over. Desert cockroaches are big suckers, but they live outdoors and only venture inside to forage,
One thing I've loved best about the high desert is NO BUGS, at least no flying bloodsuckers. The high priced real estate down by the river has to deal with mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. I'm far above their breeding ground, rain never produces standing water long enough for them to breed.
About the only troublemakers were noseeums, usually arriving at the end of the monsoon. Once I learned to dab the itchy bites with a little Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, making them disappear in a day, those were no problem.
Still, one of the real pleasures here is to sit outdoors at sunset, watching the sky go through all sorts of color changes. I'd have been bitten to death if I tried it down south or in Mass. or in the midwest or in DC or anywhere else I lived until I moved here. Having so few bugs around was an unanticipated pleasure when I moved here.
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)In the US, thee are the large cockroaches and they all pretty much look the same. They exist all over the south and in place like New York City. They are in AZ and CA. I'm sure they are in NM. According to Orkin, they are in Canada. https://www.orkincanada.ca/pests/cockroaches/american-cockroaches/
Their numbers vary:
American Cockroach, AKA palmetto bug, water bug, sewer roach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cockroach
They all look like the American Cockroach:
Smoky Brown Cockroach -(Pretty much same as American cockroach)
Oriental Cockroach -(Pretty much same as American cockroach)
Australian Cockroach -(Pretty much same as American cockroach)
They show up in living areas when they're "displaced". The most common reason, to see one in your living area because it was already living in your walls and they got crowded. They can also come in via our feet and occasionally when they're spooked.
They survive better in moist areas. They breed in trees, in ground cover, lawns, plants, under decks, rocks, they lay eggs in our exterior window frames, water mains, irrigation systems etc. They don't come in to forage. They just come in. If the habitat is good indoors, they multiply indoors. I have them in my walls and garage and my tub pan. Our garage is a great habitat for them. Any sitting moisture such as a small plumbing leak will invite an infestation. (They can breed in room air in humid areas. Our garage in San Antonio is humid enough. I guess our walls are also humid enough. Cabinets in air conditioned homes tend to be humid enough) They come via any exterior crack. Also, we had some exterior wood rot and like termites, that also brought an infestation. We probably have millions in our yard.
Their populations might be lower in the desert and that is why their interior infestation is lower, but Phoenix also has problems. Phoenix has pools. Phoenix has sewers. Phoenix has palm trees. Phoenix has irrigation systems etc etc. If they live outside, they will come inside if they find a crack that they like.
They apparently only need like a drop of water a week to survive. For food, anything is enough. They can eat the wood in your home or any starch or protein. (Paper, sugar, food, etc) They like dark, small, moist places to breed. If you see a large roach scampering around your kitchen floor, it isn't foraging, it's displaced. If they have large populations in the walls, they will leave and go out in the open and look for a new home. Sometimes fighting in the nest scares them out in to the open. They can usually find a new home without going out in the open.
OK...rant over...
I've been traumatized by them!! I've fought and studied them!!!
hatrack
(59,587 posts)Warpy
(111,268 posts)but squirrel can be rather nice. I was told there was dog meat in a stew I ate at a feast on a rez out here. I just said "interesting" and kept on eating, which I think shocked them. It was all red meat, so I couldn';t swear to what was in it, but the meat wasn't the star, IMO, it was the chiles and posole.
hatrack
(59,587 posts)raccoon
(31,111 posts)Warpy
(111,268 posts)so I suppose they don't like high altitude living. I did see them in the eastern part of the state, usually squashed on the side of the road. NC is likely the top of their range, I never saw them in eastern VA.
Comfortably_Numb
(3,809 posts)sop
(10,192 posts)RipVanWinkle
(228 posts)and I havent looked back.
4lbs
(6,858 posts)His name is pronounced "Hey Zeus" and he's from Puerto Rico.
walkingman
(7,626 posts)teach1st
(5,935 posts)Bingo! Problem solved.
getagrip_already
(14,764 posts)And call it a liberal gay disease.
prodigitalson
(2,423 posts)SergeStorms
(19,201 posts)There really is a plague on Florida. When Democrats ran the state they never had all of these problems.
marble falls
(57,099 posts)Coventina
(27,121 posts)I have to admit, I laughed at that headline!
on edit:
Hekate
(90,714 posts)LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)wolfie001
(2,247 posts)Maybe the cure-all is ivermectin. I mean, it worked so well with the COVID.
surfered
(498 posts)question everything
(47,486 posts)In response to the outbreak, the Florida Department of Health has issued a letter with a surprising new recommendation that contradicts the standards of health practice for measles outbreaks in two big ways.
First, in that letter, the states surgeon general, Joseph Ladapowho has gone against established public health practice beforewrote that unvaccinated kids who may have been exposed to measles can continue to attend school. This is unprecedented and dangerous. Children without the prior immune exposure that vaccines provide need to be isolated for 21 days after exposure to avoid contracting and further spreading this illness.
Second, despite local calls from public officials to get children vaccinated, Ladapo has failed to recommend vaccination for kids without immunity. This is troubling because unvaccinated kids can still get protection against measles if they get vaccinated within 72 hours of exposure. And if they get vaccinated within 72 hours, they can return to school as long as they dont develop symptoms. Many parents dont know this information, and leaving it out is deceptive.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/florida-surgeon-general-risks-making-a-dangerous-measles-outbreak-much-worse/
BootinUp
(47,158 posts)of many of its aspects.
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)It isn't extremely contagious. It's often spread by handling armadillos. I believe that's how the outbreak happened in Florida.
The treatment is a very strong antibiotic. (I believe it's the same antibiotic that is used to treat TB)
IbogaProject
(2,816 posts)So horrible for those afflicted now in the 21st century.
Rebl2
(13,520 posts)actually looks like someone with severe rheumatoid arthritis that isnt being treated.
Traildogbob
(8,746 posts)Mardi Lardo. And spread like hell at fundraisers there.
Ebola will be fun to watch.
limbicnuminousity
(1,402 posts)and for Max von Sydow to show up for his chess match.
AZSkiffyGeek
(11,026 posts)AZSkiffyGeek
(11,026 posts)Skittles
(153,164 posts)SergeStorms
(19,201 posts)don't even know there are armadillos in Florida. Go out walking in the palmetto scrub and it's lousy with them.
They not only spread leprosy, but tuberculosis as well.
Great little creatures for your kids as pets.
cstanleytech
(26,293 posts)Kablooie
(18,634 posts)Hes tired of Trump taking his name in vain.
dembotoz
(16,807 posts)Leprosy is in the bible...mission accomplished.....
big flood? yep they got that too
Aristus
(66,381 posts)I'm keeping the entire North American continent between myself and that place.
kimbutgar
(21,157 posts)I wouldnt go to Disneyworld nor take a cruise for that state!
Blue Owl
(50,393 posts)3catwoman3
(24,006 posts)...with the AF nurse corps. Texas came as a major shock to my western upstate New York self, for many reasons.
When I first got there, someone told me about armadillo chili. The first step in the recipe was to find a roadkill armadillo and take it home. I suspected I was being pranked, but was never entirely sure.
0rganism
(23,955 posts)Ivermectin and prayer? Works for everything, right?
mainer
(12,022 posts)Maybe insect borne transmission?
LeftInTX
(25,364 posts)which was relocating armadillos.
Relocating armadillos is fairly common because they can tear up yards. They are easier to handle and trap than skunks, raccoons and possums. I think sometimes lawn services just "catch them" on site, grab them and move them. They aren't vicious. They roll up in a ball if caught.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,617 posts)Just looking for reasons they vote for such big assholes down there.