Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a slowly progressing bacterial infection by bacillus Mycobacterium leprae that affects the skin, peripheral nerves in the hands and feet, and mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and eyes.
Swiss-US team finds indigenous cases of leprosy in the Southern United States — Study confirms human contamination through contact with armadillos – Using advanced DNA analysis and extensive field work, an international research team has confirmed the link between leprosy infection in Americans and direct contact with armadillos.
Leprosy susceptibility genes reported in New England Journal of Medicine paper — Largest genome-wide association study of an infectious disease – In the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of leprosy and the largest GWAS on an infectious disease, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and 26 institutes in China identified seven genes that increase an individual’s susceptibility to leprosy.
The Indian skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence for human infection with Mycobacterium leprae in the world and the first evidence for the disease in prehistoric India. – A biological anthropologist from Appalachian State University working with an undergraduate student from Appalachian, an evolutionary biologist from UNC Greensboro, and a team of archaeologists from Deccan College (Pune, India) recently reported analysis of a 4000-year-old skeleton from India bearing evidence of leprosy.
