30 May, 2005 19:44 GMT
The cases of disease in the United States appear to be limited to gay and bisexual men. Experts fear it could be a signal that gay men are returning to riskier behaviors.
LGV, a sexually transmitted disease rarely reported in the United States, has re-emerged, raising concerns about the rise of risky sex habits.
Authorities say the return of LGV, or lymphogranuloma venereum, to North America also illustrates the increasing globalization of infectious diseases in an era of rapid air transit and frequent travel, the Boston Globe reported.
The disease is endemic to Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, the report said. Disease trackers who investigated a cluster of cases in the Netherlands in 2003 found that infected patients had multiple sex partners across Europe and the United States.
Better Screening
The US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sufficiently concerned by the reappearance of the bacterial infection that it is working to establish a surveillance system to monitor the disease nationwide and to develop better screening for it in health clinics.
So far, the cases of disease in the United States appear to be limited to gay and bisexual men, the Globe said. Experts fear it could be a signal that gay men are returning to riskier behaviors. The disease can be cured with a three-week course of the antibiotic doxycycline.
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