Leprosy looks like and can affect the skin and the nerves of the hands and feet as well as the eyes and the lining of the nose.
In some cases, leprosy can also affect other organs, such as the kidneys and testicles in men.
If left untreated, leprosy can cause deformities of the hands and feet, blindness, and kidney failure.
Leprosy is an infection that is caused by slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae.
The leprosy infection can affect the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (nasal mucosa).
The good news is though with early diagnosis and treatment, the Leprosy disease can be cured.
Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease.
Leprosy is no longer something to fear.
Today, the disease Leprosy is rare and also treatable.
Most people lead a normal life during and after treatment.
The signs adn symptoms of Leprosy include.
Skin patches which may be red or have a loss of pigmentation.
Skin patches with diminished or absent sensations.
Numbness or tingling in your hands, feet, arms and legs.
Painless wounds or burns on the hands and feet.
Muscle weakness.
Leprosy is not sexually transmitted and is not spread through pregnancy to the unborn child.
The majority (95%) of people who are exposed to M. leprae do not develop leprosy; casual contact such as shaking hands and sitting next to someone with leprosy does not lead to transmission.
The Leprosy disease seems to have originated in Eastern Africa or the Near East and spread with successive human migrations.
Europeans or North Africans introduced leprosy into West Africa and the Americas within the past 500 years.
Today, about 208,000 people worldwide are infected with leprosy, according to the World Health Organization, most of them in Africa and Asia.
About 100 people are diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. every year, mostly in the South, California, Hawaii, and some U.S. territories.