(COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka has been placed on leprosy alert after some 1,550 cases including 173 school children have been reported in the most recent days, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the Anti-Leprosy Campaign, the majority of cases have been recorded from the Colombo District with 315 cases while 168 and 151 cases have been reported from the Gampaha and Kalutara districts respectively.
In light of the uptick in cases among school children, a nationwide program was initiated at the school level to detect infections, according to officials.
Anti leprosy officials explained that there are two types of leprosy spreading in the country — communicable and non-communicable. Unfortunately, of the cases detected, 60 percent are communicable, indicating a potential higher risk of transmission.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 95 percent of humans are immune to the bacteria causing leprosy.
As the number of leprosy cases continues to rise, health officials are working to assess and manage the situation, stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to address both communicable and non-communicable forms of the disease in the island nation.
