Leprosy Scare In California Causes Panic

California parents were terrified to learn that two students were diagnosed with a rare disease from the Bible era — leprosy.

Several parents reportedly refused to send their children to Indian Hills Elementary School in Jurupa Valley after the school district sent out a warning about two potential cases of leprosy that affected students. 

“We have not identified any risk at the school and it’s very difficult to transmit to others,” Barbara Cole, director of disease control for the county, said, according to CBS Los Angeles. She added that test results could take weeks to come back.

The symptoms of leprosy include disfigured skin sores and peeling skin. It’s spread through mucus and treatable with antibiotics, though most of the population is immune to it. 

“For parents, they need to make a decision for their children but we’re not recommending any precautions,” superintendent Elliott Duchon told the station. “There is not a risk at this time.”

Though many were panicked by the disease’s presence, others said there was no cause for alarm.

“Leprosy has been around centuries as has the bubonic plague. Neither have or will be eradicated completely,” one reader commented on Shared’s Facebook page.

“You know what the real killers are? Ignorance. Fear. Panic. Hysteria. Condemnation without investigation,” another added. 

“Ppl that travel alot can bring these kinds of diseases back with them. There are also immigrants that are not properly checked before entering the u.s. there are diseases that wait in hiding until it finds a host. Then there are diseases that carried by bugs and animals. there are many reasons why some diseases resurface,” another reader commented. 

Others speculated that armadillos carry the disease, which could explain how the children got it.

“Armadillos carry leprosy. Don’t know how many are out in California, but they are here in Florida. I don’t think there is any disease that has been completely eliminated, not even polio,” one reader explained. 

Sources: CBS Los Angeles, Shared/Facebook / Photo credit: Your Nation News