Friday, February 08, 2008

Leprosy In Arkansas? How? Oh...Immigrants.

There's an outbreak of leprosy in Springdale, Arkansas, and city officials are blaming immigrants from the Marshall Islands, where the disease is endemic.

SPRINGDALE - The medical community is warning the public: a leprosy outbreak in Springdale could blossom into an epidemic, if something isn't done soon.

Doctors say at least nine cases of leprosy have been confirmed in Springdale. Local doctors say they would be shocked by even one case of leprosy in their entire career, so they say something must be done soon, in order to stop leprosy's spread.



They're being a bit hysterical. Only 10% of the population is even susceptible, and you have to be exposed over a long period in order to catch the disease even then.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, we're not hysterical here. It was a case of bad, sensationalist reporting. Other media outlets are clarifying the situation on tonight's new.

Anonymous said...

Right, like we can believe the media...