Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by a bacillus, mycobacterium leprae. Mycobacterium leprae multiplies very slowly. The incubation period is about three to five years but signs and symptoms can take as long as 20 years to appear. Leprosy is not highly infectious. It is transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth or via the skin during close and frequent contact with untreated, infected persons.

Hansen's disease (named for Norwegian scientist Gerhard Armauer Hansen) is a chronic, infectious disease caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. This disease usually affects the nerves, skin and eyes. See similar questions...

Hansen’s disease (named for Norwegian scientist Gerhard Armauer Hansen) is a chronic, infectious disease caused by a bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. This disease usually affects the nerves, skin and eyes. See similar questions...

Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by a germ, Mycobacterium leprae. It usually involves the nerves, skin and eyes. See similar questions...

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Yes, when untreated. However, even the most contagious patient becomes non-infectious within a few days or weeks of treatment. In addition, very few persons exposed to untreated patients contract the disease because only about five percent of the world's population is even susceptible to it. See similar questions...

Leprosy is transmitted by direct, person-to-person contact, usually repetitive, over a prolonged period of time. See similar questions...

In 2000, 738,284 cases of leprosy were identified worldwide; 91 in the United States. Between 1 million and 2 million people are believed permanently disabled by the disease. Ten countries account for 90 percent of cases: Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo,Guinea, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal and Tanzania. See similar questions...

Leprosy is a curable disease and when treated in the early stages, disability can be avoided. With minimal training, leprosy can be easily diagnosed on clinical signs alone. A World Health Organization (WHO) Study Group recommended multidrug therapy (MDT) in 1981, in place of monotherapy with dapsone. See similar questions...

Currently less than 300,000 people develop leprosy each year. Since the introduction of MDT in the early 1980s, more than 15 million people around the world have been cured of the disease. Today, it remains a public health problem in only a handful of countries. top See similar questions...