CORRECTED: Open Borders: Leprosy outbreak in Arkansas
3February 8, 2008 by Tyson Wynn
Thanks to an alert commenter, I can report that things aren’t as dire as they first appeared. Please see the links in his/her comment below.
The comment:
Tyson, you’d better update this story, pronto.
The TV station you’ve cited has updated the story extensively and retracted many of the claims.
http://www.kfsm.com/global/story.asp?s=7845322
Also, the Arkansas Department of Health is reporting that there is NO outbreaks of TB or leprosy in the state.
Basically, the long and short of it is that only 5% of the population is susceptible to leprosy, so an epidemic isn’t technically possible. Government officials were wrong about something. Who’d a thunk it?
***Original Post (in part) Below***
Officials in Arkansas are concerned that a leprosy–yes, the biblical leprosy–epidemic could be on the horizon. The nine cases reported in Springdale, officials warn, could become a full-fledged epidemic.
Category Immigration, News | Tags: arkansas, leprosy
3 comments
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Tyson, you’d better update this story, pronto.
The TV station you’ve cited has updated the story extensively and retracted many of the claims.
http://www.kfsm.com/global/story.asp?s=7845322
Also, the Arkansas Department of Health is reporting that there is NO outbreaks of TB or leprosy in the state.
http://www.healthyarkansas.com/news/pr_tb_020808.html
Even if there were an outbreak, leprosy is very susceptible to antibiotic treatment. So the combination of antibiotics as well as the fact that leprosy is not very contagious would make an epidemic almost impossible.
Isn’t medicine great? Leprosy has been so feared over the centuries, but with the advent of antibiotics that fear is just about non-existent.
This just goes to show that I should follow my gut more. When Jeane first told me about this story, my response was that leprosy is so treatable that it is not really a threat anymore (thus no leper colonies, etc.). Then I read the news item and was convinced otherwise. Not the WynnBlog’s brightest day.