New York Diseases

New York becoming city of "exotic diseases."
The New York Times (2/11, A23, Hartocollis) says New York City's health department revelation last week that "three people had contracted cholera" was a reminder that the "city is not just a world capital of arts" and business but, also of "exotic diseases." The Times points out that "several people every year are found to have a biblical disease, leprosy, though health officials say no one has to fear catching it in the subway." Moreover, in 2002, "bubonic plague, more commonly associated with the 14th century, found its way to New York City through two travelers who came from a ranch in New Mexico, where the disease is endemic in flea-bitten wild animals like prairie dogs." And anthrax scares in 2001, caused the city to expand it "so-called syndromic surveillance system" to pick up "evidence of biological warfare."