Tribal Leaders Ask Feds To Declare Syphilis Outbreak a Public Health Emergency
For Native American communities in the Great Plains, data paints a clear picture of the devastation caused by an ongoing syphilis outbreak. According to the South Dakota Department of Health, 649 cases of syphilis have been documented this year. Of those, 546 were diagnosed among Native Americans, who make up only 9 percent of the…
Tribal Health Leaders Say Feds Haven’t Treated Syphilis Outbreak as a Public Health Emergency
Natalie Holt sees reminders nearly everywhere of the serious toll a years-long syphilis outbreak has taken in South Dakota. Scrambling to tamp down the spread of the devastating disease, public health officials are blasting messages to South Dakotans on billboards and television, urging people to get tested. Holt works in Aberdeen, a city of about…