Leprosy outbreak in NWA

[KJW]

9 cases so far in the Springdale area. Also 100 cases of tuberculosis (semi-common, sadly, in Atlanta when I lived there) as well.

[dimebag1980]

Oh... snap...

[Mith242]

9 cases so far in the Springdale area. Also 100 cases of tuberculosis (semi-common, sadly, in Atlanta when I lived there) as well.

[dimebag1980]

Links is already gone. KFSM screwed up, there isn't any outbreak. There are some Marshallese that have leprosy, but they were cases already known about for a while. But there is no outbreak.

[masons_dad1]

It won't be an outbreak until it affects non-Marshallese people. Until that happens it's just an alert and not an outbreak.

[dimebag1980]

If it's supposedly airborne, how does it not spread from the Marshallese to others... ?

[masons_dad1]

If it's supposedly airborne, how does it not spread from the Marshallese to others... ?

[dimebag1980]

Leprosy is not known to be airborne transmittable so a leprosy outbreak is not likely. An infected leper would have to rub the pus from an open sore onto another person in order to even have a chance of infecting someone else. It could possibly be transmitted by touching something coated in the pus from an infected person, such as public telephones and door handles at restaurants, but is not likely due to the limited spread of leprosy. TB is another story. It can affect the lungs of the infected and can be transmitted by a cough or a sneeze making it highly airborne transmittable.

Both leprosy and TB are treatable and, in most cases fully curable, using expensive antibiotics. Leprosy only takes a matter of a few months to cure in most cases, but TB can take years. Detecting leprosy requires a biopsy of a plug of the infected flesh. Detecting TB requires a chest x-ray for a first determination then a skin test in which a small amount of TB bacterium is injected just below the patient's skin to see if there is a positive delayed reaction, usually taking 2-3 days. If there isn't then the patient is given a clean bill of health and released back into society; even though the patient may still be suffering from various symptoms of leprosy, TB and a host of other contagious diseases.

[masons_dad1]

Thanks for clearing that up, I thought I had read somewhere that it was airborne so it kind of bothered me.