A student at a Riverside County elementary school has been found to have leprosy, public health officials said Thursday, though they emphasize that the school and community remain safe.
A doctor had initially diagnosed two children from Indian Hills Elementary School in Jurupa Valley with the condition known medically as Hansen’s disease, Riverside County health officials said. But this week they received results from the National Hansen’s Disease Laboratory Research Program in Baton Rouge, La., that showed only one of the children had tested positive.
Public health officials emphasized that leprosy is not easily transmitted and that there is no danger to the child’s classmates. The classrooms have been sanitized since the initial diagnoses.
“It is incredibly difficult to contract leprosy,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County’s public health officer. “The school was safe before this case arose, and it still is.”
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