According a research letter published by Nathoo and his colleagues in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Central Florida has reported among the highest rates of leprosy in the United States.
In 2020, 159 cases were reported nationwide, compared with 200,000 new cases each year around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The new letter says Central Florida accounted for 81% of cases in Florida and nearly 1 out of 5 leprosy cases nationwide.
Gotta be super really for reals for a minute: armadillos are a big vector for this, and they've expanded across the southeast in recent years.
Only maybe a decade ago, I'd never seen an armadillo outside of an LCD (or CRT) screen, and now they're regularly run over on highways/interstates from Tennessee to the FL panhandle.
That said, why the central Floridians are getting all up in dead armadillos is anyone's meth--I mean guess.
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