Fun with Leprosy!

Hansen’s disease (AKA leprosy) is one of the least contagious of diseases. 95% of us are naturally immune and it’s not easily contracted by the other 5%.

So tell me, how was there a surge in leprosy cases in Florida in 2025? Hmmm?

Florida reported more cases of Hansen’s disease, commonly known as leprosy, in 2025 than in any other year shown in the state’s modern disease database. (source) 

Florida – of fucking course. How long before they’re hit by another round of Bubonic plague or dysentery?

Unsurprisingly, throughout history, a lot of religions considered the disease a "curse from God" rather than a medical condition. I’m sure we can all, way too easily, walk out our front doors and, within a block or two, run into at least three evangelical assholes who strongly believe that cancer, COVID, AIDS, NF2, and the runs are all punishments from their blonde Republican white god. Leprosy? Sure, why not?

Chaulmoogra oil, pressed from the seeds of a tree found in India, was the standard treatment for leprosy at the Louisiana Leper Home. It was applied either using oil soaked gauze, by injections or in pill form. Unfortunately, chaulmoogra oil gave little or no medical benefit. (source) 

Hmmmmm, sounds an awful lot like all the “cures” Republicans and other assorted quacks (Marianne Williamson, RFK jr, Dr. Oz anyone?) push for autism and what have you, doesn’t it now?

How ‘bout that horse paste, or injecting Clorox or shining lightbulbs up your ass? Isn’t that what President ClownFuck ShitForBrains recommended? Oh wait, maybe Republicans just want us all to die because, ya know, if we're poor. If we were rich, we could buy our way out of being sick so, honestly, this is our own damn fault.

😳 OOPS 😳 I’ve gone off on a rant again. Sorry. Back to Fun With Leprosy.

Scientists discovered an effective treatment in the 1940s and a cure was found 1981. Treatment can last one to two years and delaying treatment can cause permanent nerve damage and disability.

The Louisiana Leper Home in Carville, (later known as the National Leprosarium) established in 1892, was run by an order of nuns — The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. They housed the ill in shacks previously used by enslaved people. Leaving was not an option. This wasn’t a hospital set up, it was a jail. The crime? Being sick in a frighteningly icky way. 

There were also Leper colonies in Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii and a short-lived site on Penikese Island in Buzzards Bay in  Massachusetts. 

Nuns, in case you didn't go to Catholic school and aren't in the know, have always been scary. Forget all that Sound of Music/Julie Andrews, Flying Nun/Sister Bertrille crap you've seen on teevee!

At Carville, conditions during the earliest decades were rugged. When the facility was first established in swampy, malaria-prone territory outside Baton Rouge, the afflicted were initially housed in former slave cabins, where they shivered and sweltered through the seasons. Their lives were initially bound by fences—one that divided the men's side of the campus from the women's side (since interactions between the sexes were strictly forbidden) and a tall iron perimeter fence to thwart the many escape attempts. There was even an on-site jail to punish runaways, who were sometimes brought back in leg irons. And patients had to sacrifice their very identities: Upon arrival, they were immediately encouraged to take a new name to protect their families back home from the disease's powerful stigma. (source) 

How can I get my very own personal case of leprosy?

Person-to-person

Leprosy does not spread easily between people. You must have prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated leprosy over many months to catch the disease.

Leprosy likely spreads when a person sick with the disease coughs or sneezes and a healthy person breathes in the droplets repeatedly over a long period of time.

Around 95% of people cannot get leprosy because their immune system can fight off the bacteria that causes it. It’s not spread through sex, and it is not passed to the fetus during pregnancy.

Armadillos

In the soutern United States, some armadillos are naturally infected with the bacteria that cause leprosy, and it may be possible that the animals can spread it to people. However, the risk is very low and most people who come into contact with armadillos are unlikely to get leprosy. (source)

Staying out of Florida seems to be a smart idea. If you must go, wear a mask when out in public.

Also, though armadillos are cute, it might be wise to keep a wee distance. Don’t let them sneeze on you.

I only mention it.