Leprosy Outbreak In Northwest Arkansas

An outbreak of leprosy in Arkansas is shocking doctors and locals. Experts say the outbreak could burst into an epidemic because it isn't treated through a vaccine, and is transmitted via air.

There is a breaking update on this story below... The medical community is concerned that the recent outbreak of nine cases of Leprosy in Springdale, Northwest Arkansas, could blossom into an epidemic if something is not done to prevent it. Local doctors explain that usually they would be shocked to see one case in their medical career and seeing nine, in one place, is reason for concern. Jennifer Bingham, MD, in Springdale states "my initial response was: I am shocked. I am shocked we are seeing this. It's a true reason to be very worried."

Medical specialists say the Marshall Islands have the most cases of leprosy, in the world. And the city with the largest number of Marshallese people, outside the Marshall islands, is Springdale. And Bingham says, it makes sense, then, that leprosy is spreading to the city. "It's from the Marshall islands; that's why we're seeing it."

Dr. Bingham says that patients entering over the border with the disease are not complying with treatment and since leprosy has no vaccine, and is transmitted through the air, it then spreads and could easily become an epidemic. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), Leprosy, also called Hansen's Disease, is abacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, that multiplies very slowly and mainly affects the skin, nerves, and mucous membranes, and most investigators think that M. leprae is usually spread from person to person in respiratory droplets, which means that people in closest contact with those affected are at risk.

In 2002, the number of new cases detected worldwide was 763,917. In 2002, 96 cases occurring in the United States were reported to CDC. In 2002, WHO listed Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nepal as having 90% of cases.

Stanford Education gives an excellent overview of the history of Leprosy, from the first accounts of what they believed to be of Leprosy, written in 1550 BC, to the present day treatments, stating "Leprosy has been so prevalent in various areas as certain times throughout history that is has inspired art work and influenced other cultural practices." Interesting fact about Leprosy; Other than human beings, the armadillo, is thought to be a good host for Leprosy because of their low body temperature. Armadillos are used in research of Leprosy although they are not known to carry the human type of Leprosy. The concern of being infected from armadillos to humans did not arise until the mid-1980’s, when people that handled nine-banded armadillos – racing armadillos, extracting meat, and making souvenirs from their shells, started becoming infected. According to an older study, PDF file, 1 in 6 armadillos found in Texas and Louisiana coastal marshes harbor leprosy. More images of how Leprosy appears in its different forms can be found at the google image search pages. [Update] They have removed the original story from KFSM...just took it down and when I search the site for it, I found another article claiming the doctors were wrong about the danger of an epidemic. From the amount of hits to that story just on my site and the amount of google searches done about it, my exit question would be, was the Arkansas Department of Health worried about a panic or were the doctors actually wrong? Developing...