Five women got eye syphilis from the same man—raising questions

Here's a gripping conversation starter to bring up over your family's Thanksgiving feast this year: Health officials in Michigan have identified an alarming cluster of syphilis infections in women's eyes.

The first-of-its-kind cluster—in five women all linked to one infected man—raises the possibility that a new strain of syphilis bacteria has adapted to more easily cause systemic syphilis, particularly disease that affects the eyes and central nervous system. A report of the cluster and what it might mean is published today by Michigan health officials in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Eye syphilis, aka ocular syphilis, is not new. Syphilis bacteria, Treponema pallidum (formerly Spirochaeta pallida) are known to be able to spread to the eye, as well as the inner ear, and central nervous system when the sexually transmitted infection is left untreated. This spread can lead to blindness, deafness, and life-threatening neurosyphilis if it remains untreated.