Leprosy Case In California

A California school child has been diagnosed leprosy, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Riverside County, California, health officials recieved confirmation of the diagnosis from the National Hansen's Disease Laboratory Research Program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  

Hansen's disease is the medical term for leprosy. 

Although the disease conjures up horrific images from movies and the Bible, health officials say today,  leprosy is not to be feared.

The bacterial infection, medically known as Hansen's Disease, is easily treated with antibiotics and is difficult to transmit. Left untreated, it can cause nerve damage and physical deformity

The infected child, whose identity is being protected, attends Indian Hills Elementary School in Jurupa Valley in Southern California. Health officials are trying to reassure concerned parents whose children also go there, that their children are not in danger.

Parents were informed via email that although the disease is very rare, it is also easily treated and not very contagious The email further stated that the classrooms had been sanitized.