India: Assam State reports more than 600 leprosy cases in first nine months

The northeastern Indian state of Assam has recorded some 616 cases of the disfiguring disease, leprosy in the first nine months of 2013, causing concern of reemergence in the area, according to India TV News report Friday.

Leprosy
Image/CDC

In addition to the cases in Assam, several of it’s “sister states” are reporting cases–Nagaland (32), Tripura (23), Sikkim (20), Mizoram (18), Arunachal Pradesh (17), Meghalaya (15) and Manipur (six).

“It is a concern that the disease is re-emerging in certain pockets in the north east,” Dr C M Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Lep), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus. The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes.

Official figures show that almost 182,000 people, mainly in Asia and Africa, were affected at the beginning of 2012, with approximately 219,000 new cases reported during 2011.

M. leprae multiplies very slowly and the incubation period of the disease is about five years. Symptoms can take as long as 20 years to appear.

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Leprosy is not highly infectious. It is transmitted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and frequent contacts with untreated cases.

Untreated, leprosy can cause progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes.

Early diagnosis and treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT) remain the key elements in eliminating the disease as a public health concern.

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Leprosy is curable and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability.

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