Hansen's disease (leprosy): the North Carolina experience.

Hansen's disease presents a large public health problem throughout much of the world but it occurs infrequently in the United States. Only 8,501 cases have been reported since 1921 and 81 percent of these have been from just six states. Typical of many states, North Carolina has had only twenty-two case reports over this sixty-eight year period. We present two typical cases we have seen in the past year and briefly review some of the epidemiologic, clinical, and treatment aspects of the disease.