FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What Is Leprosy?

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease, is a mildly infectious disease. Around 200,000 people across the world are diagnosed with leprosy each year. Leprosy is curable and, if treated quickly, will cause no long-term consequences for a person.

What Causes Leprosy?

Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) is caused by a bacillus (germ) called Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). It mainly affects the skin, nerves and eyes.

Leprosy is not a highly contagious disease. The incubation period (the period between infection and seeing symptoms) is long - five years on average, but can be anything between one year and 20 years. During the incubation period, an infected person does not have any visible signs or symptoms but may already be infectious.

Anyone can be diagnosed with leprosy, but thankfully most of us have immune systems that are strong enough to not develop it even if we live in a country where there is leprosy.

What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Leprosy?

Skin patches which are a different colour from the rest of your skin (in brown/black skin the patches are lighter; in light-skinned people the patches are reddish in colour) and with no feeling (meaning that it is numb and has no sensation)

Loss of feeling or numbness of the hands and feet.

Muscle weakness or paralysis - struggling to hold things in your hands, unable to lift your foot up so that your toes are pointing upwards; unable to close your eyes,

If you notice any of these - please go to the nearest health centre or hospital.

How Do We Defeat Leprosy?

The key to defeating leprosy is to find, diagnose, and treat all cases of leprosy. Treatment is free and effective, so anyone who thinks they may have symptoms of leprosy should talk to a healthcare worker and receive treatment. Early treatment prevents the development of leprosy-related disabilities and stops the spread of the disease, as patients are no longer infectious after 72 hours of Multi-Drug Therapy treatment.

We believe we can end the transmission of leprosy by 2035 through finding and treating all cases of leprosy.

How Is Leprosy Treated?

Leprosy is curable with Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) - a combination of three antibiotics that has been used to treat leprosy for decades. MDT is highly effective in killing M. leprae and people are no longer infectious a few days after starting treatment. MDT is the only effective treatment for leprosy and you should not consider herbal remedies or any other forms of treatment.

Is Leprosy Contagious?

Leprosy is a mildly infectious disease. It is spread by a bacteria called M.leprae and most people are not at risk of developing leprosy if they are exposed to this bacteria.

Does Leprosy Still Exist?

There are many, many people across the world who think that leprosy is a disease of the past. In a lot of countries across the world, leprosy has thankfully become a thing of the past.

However, in countries across the world - particularly in South America, Asia, and Africa - leprosy continues to impact lives and communities. Around 200,000 people are diagnosed every year and scientists believe there could be missing millions who have leprosy but have not yet been diagnosed.

Leprosy And Animals

Leprosy has been found in animals in different locations across the world. On the American continents, leprosy has been found in nine banded armadillos and has been transmitted to humans through infected armadillos. Meanwhile, the UK’s red squirrel population has been known to develop leprosy, but there have been no instances of transmission from squirrel to human. Lastly, researchers in late 2021 published evidence of leprosy in wild chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast.

Leprosy In The Bible

Many people who have heard about leprosy have done so because they have read Bible stories that refer to leprosy. These stories can be found in the Old Testament and in the Gospels, where Jesus is said to have encountered and healed several persons affected by leprosy.

Is Leprosy Hereditary?

Leprosy is not hereditary, meaning it is not passed down through the genes from a parent to a child.

Leprosy is caused by a germ

Leprosy is caused by a germ known as M.leprae. This germ is primarily spread through water droplets passed from a person who is infectious (has not started treatment). The water droplets spread through speech, sneezing, and coughing over a long period of time.

Only 1 in 10 of people affected by leprosy are infectious. Around 95 percent of people have an immune system that is capable of killing the M.leprae germ.

Preventing Leprosy At A Household Level

Some diseases are highly infectious and require people to quarantine even within their own homes, as we saw with Covid-19. Leprosy is not one of those diseases.

If you know that someone in your home has been diagnosed with leprosy, this means they should have started treatment. Leprosy is treated with three antibiotics known as Multi Drug Therapy and once a person has started treatment, they are no longer infectious and cannot spread the disease.

Checking for signs and symptoms at the household level

There is less than a 2 percent chance that a person who has been recently diagnosed with leprosy has passed the disease on to other people in their household.

If this happens, there is no need for fear. If leprosy is treated quickly with Multi Drug Therapy, you can avoid long term complications. If you have been diagnosed with leprosy, make sure you check people in your household for signs and symptoms of the disease.

It can take many years for the first symptoms to appear, so it is important to check every six months.

Preventing leprosy at a public health level

Governments and leprosy NGOs such as The Leprosy Mission are working in partnership in communities across the world to distribute an antibiotic that can prevent leprosy.

This antibiotic (Rifampicin) is being shared with people who are at most risk of developing the disease. This approach is known as a post exposure prophylaxis (or PEP for short). If you are offered PEP, it is important that you take it as the healthcare professional has explained.

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