© Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesInfectious disease agency suggests central portion of state may have become 'endemic location' for potentially debilitating disease. The CDC said the data represents โmounting epidemiological evidence supporting leprosy as an endemic process in the south-eastern United Statesโ.
Leprosy cases are surging in Florida, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with a new report suggesting the central area of the state may have become an "endemic location" for the infectious, potentially debilitating disease.
There were
159 new cases of leprosy in the US in 2020, the most recent year for which data was studied, according to a report published on Monday by the CDC. Florida was among the top reporting states, and almost a fifth of all cases were reported in the state's central region.
Central Florida was responsible for 81% of the cases reported in the state.Meanwhile, the number of reported
cases of leprosy in the south-eastern US has more than doubled over the last decade, the CDC reported, with growing instances of people contracting leprosy within the country.
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