A CONTINUING FOCUS OF HANSEN’S DISEASE IN TEXAS

Abstract. To describe epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of Hansen’s disease cases in Texas, information was abstracted from records of 810 patients reported from 1973 through 1997. Annually, from 18 to 54 patients were reported. Average annual incidence rates ranged from 1.9 to 2.4 cases per million population. A majority of the patients were male (63%) and white (77%). More than half (53%) of the patients were born in the United States; a majority (83%) of the patients born in the United States were born in Texas. Most (76%) patients were diagnosed with multi-bacillary leprosy. Foreign-born patients were more likely to be younger at onset and have multi-bacillary disease compared with patients born in the United States. Within Texas, an endemic focus of Hansen’s disease exists along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae. Infected persons experience a variety of clinical forms attributed to the immune response.1,2 Han-sen’s disease is categorized by clinical, immunologic, and histopathologic findings. Localized disease, termed tuber-culoid or pauci-bacillary leprosy, is characterized by a single or few hypopigmented or erythematous skin lesions. Sensor