By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said Bahamians should not be alarmed by a recent international study showing that leprosy cases are rising in Florida.

The report about leprosy in central Florida, which was featured on the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, was published by the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal (EID).

The researchers noted an increase in leprosy cases in Florida, pointing “to rising evidence that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern United States.”

Dr Minnis said The Bahamas had not detected a case of leprosy in over 30 years.

“We have not had a case in over 30 years, but in either event, the doctor’s medical team are well trained, and they would know of leprosy. But at this point in time, I don’t think we should be particularly concerned about it since it’s a result of prolonged exposure. It’s not just contact of quick exposure. It’s prolonged exposure, a year or more.”

Still, he cautioned doctors to be on the alert.

“Doctors would know that it’s an endemic in Florida, and it’s a slight increase in the Florida area,” he said, “and therefore, you would just look out and keep a keen eye because it results from prolonged contact so it’s not just going to Florida to visit and come back. No, you don’t get it like that. You must be exposed to the individual for a very long time.”

After a period of decline, leprosy cases have gradually risen since the 2000s, researchers said.

“According to the National Hansen’s Disease Programme, 159 new cases were reported in the United States in 2020; Florida was among the top reporting states,” the letter states.

Central Florida, a popular destination for Bahamians, accounted for 81 per cent of cases reported in Florida and almost one-fifth of cases reported in the US. Whereas leprosy in the United States previously affected persons who had immigrated from leprosy-endemic areas, 34 per cent of new case patients during 2015–2020 appeared to have locally acquired the disease.