Leprosy

Two new leprosy cases were reported in Brevard County, part of a growing number of Hansen's disease diagnoses that again put Florida near the top of the national list.

The Florida Department of Health has confirmed two additional Hansen's disease cases in Brevard County in its latest report, bringing the county's total this year to three as of Aug. 1 and Florida's statewide tally to 19.

Last year, when Florida accounted for more than 20% of all U.S. leprosy diagnoses, there were 20 cases report

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Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ministry of Health stated that under the 2026 Free Health Screening (CKG) program, it identified 13,297 suspected leprosy cases among 25.2 million participants aged one and older. The ministry added screenings for leprosy, scabies, and yaws to the nationwide program starting in 2026 to accelerate the elimination of these diseases in Indonesia. Speaking in Jakarta on Tuesday, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted that despite being known for so long, many still view leprosy as a curse, creating a stigma that hinders detection efforts and delays treatment. "Because of the stigma, people hesitate, even though it can easily be detected through the CKG program," he said. According to him, antibiotic treatments for leprosy are readily available and highly ef...
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Nine-banded armadillos are a common sight across the southern US.

You'll find them digging in flower beds and underneath your porch. Sometimes, unfortunately, they unsuccessfully attempt to cross a busy road.

They are, for the most part, harmless. But experts say the adorable armored creatures may be the culprit behind a rising number of cases of an ancient disease.

Well, "ancient" is only partly true -- it is a 4,000-year-old disease. But leprosy, AKA Hansen's Disease, infects as many as 200,

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• Chile is the first country in the Americas verified by WHO for eliminating leprosy disease

• No locally acquired leprosy cases reported in Chile for over 30 years since 1993

• Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease causing nerve damage and disabilities if untreated

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In a major global public health milestone, Chile has become the first country in the Americas to be officially verified by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elim

📰 46 news sources reporting on this story.

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Alice Augusta Ball lived a very short life. In 24 years, she had remarkable achievements, and was predictably forgotten for a while, until the world was shaken up to her brilliance. Her work on distilling chaulmoogra oil for use as effective treatment for leprosy brought hope to a number of patients globally.

Celebrating forgotten women who helped improved maternal health

An African American woman born into middle class in the late 1800s, Alice Ball benefitted from an early exposure to chemical

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The World Health Organization (WHO), together with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), congratulates Chile for becoming the first country in the Americas - and the second globally - to be officially verified as having eliminated leprosy disease.

Leprosy (Hansen disease) was historically recorded in Chile at the end of the 19th century on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The disease was limited in mainland Chile, with sporadic introductions, contained through isolation and treatment measures in

📰 31 news sources reporting on this story.

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India remains the highest-burden leprosy country in the world, reporting over 100 000 new cases annually in most recent years and accounting for more than half of global new case detections. Despite achieving WHO’s “elimination as a public health problem” threshold nationally in 2005, persistent new case detection (including child cases and multibacillary disease) in several states shows ongoing transmission and late diagnosis, especially among marginalized communities.

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REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Yohei Sasakawa, Honorary Ambassador of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Leprosy Elimination, is committed to eradicating the spread of leprosy in Indonesia. Through the Sasakawa Health Foundation (SHF), the 87-year-old man emphasized that efforts to combat leprosy... Source: Republika Online - Read Full Article

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has given his full support to the Sasakawa Foundation, which is committed to helping Indonesia eliminate leprosy. This was announced by Yohei Sasakawa, WHO Honorary Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, after meeting with President Prabowo in Hambalang, Bogor, on Friday, January 16, 2026. "He has shown his full support for us to carry out various activities to eliminate this disease," said Yohei Sasakawa in a press conference at the Kempinski Hotel, Jakarta. Yohei further said that the Indonesian people still have misinformation regarding the treatment of leprosy. He did not deny that people with leprosy or even survivors of leprosy often face negative stigma in society. "When it comes to ...
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Despite being eliminated as a public health problem in the late 1980s, leprosy and its long-term impacts remain a persistent health challenge in Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, and Fiji. An Australian non-profit pharmaceutical developer says its treatment targeting type 2 leprosy reaction is entering a global trial for the first time. Leprosy reaction is not leprosy itself but instead the consequence of the infection. Mark Sullivan is the founder and managing director of Medicines Development for Global Health, the company behind the new treatment. He said their drug avoided the severe side effects experienced by current treatments.
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