Leprosy is a chronic infection of the skin, peripheral nerves, eyes and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, affecting over a quarter million people worldwide. Its symptoms can be gruesome and ...

The history of leprosy in the Americas runs deeper than once thought, according to research published this May in Science. Well over a millennium ago—before European colonization—the bacterium ...

Leprosy has existed since at least Biblical times, yet scientists still don't know exactly how Mycobacterium leprae causes the disease's symptoms. Though antibiotics can treat the illness, researchers ...

Evidence from archaeological sites in the medieval English city of Winchester shows that English red squirrels once served as an important host for Mycobacterium leprae strains that caused leprosy in ...