Leprosy
Leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms, legs, and skin areas around the body. This disease has been around since ancient times, often surrounded by terrifying and negative stigmas. However, leprosy is actually not that contagious. You can catch it only if you come into close and repeated contact with nose and mouth droplets from someone with untreated leprosy. Children are more likely to get leprosy than adults. Today, about 180,000 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. Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease. Leprosy primarily affects the skin and the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, called the periphe...