Leprosy was eliminated as a public health problem in India as per the World Health Organization’s criteria of less than 1 case per 10,000 population, at the national level, in 2005.

Leprosy, also called Hansen’s disease, is primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae bacteria. But in 2008, scientists discovered that a similar species, M. lepromatosis, can cause it, too.

Long considered a disease brought to the Americas by European colonizers, leprosy may actually have a much older history on the American continent. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the CNRS ...

Evidence of a medieval leper colony has been uncovered by builders who are renovating a pub in Coventry. Human remains thought to date back some 900 years were found in the area of the men's toilets ...

The Leicestershire village of Burton Lazars got its name from St Mary and St Lazarus Hospital, founded by Robert de Mowbray between 1138-1162. The hospital was one of the most important leper ...

On Karaikal Road in the temple town of Kumbakonam stands the 109-year old Society of the Sacred Heart Leprosy Centre, immortalised by Pasitha Maanidam, a novel by Karichan Kunju, a writer of the ...

The Leprosy Aid Committee has paid glowing tribute to Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for his immense support to lepers and leprosariums in Ghana.

A team renovating two buildings dating from around the 15th Century at a former leper hospital is seeking views on how the site can be best preserved. The project aims to "rescue and reuse" the ...

Views sought on preserving leper hospital site Warwick District Council The team want to "sympathetically redevelop the two remaining buildings" for residential use, says the council ...

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases in the world. Over the years, because of advances in diagnosis and treatment, the number of cases has gone down globally, making it a neglected tropical disease.

Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Leprosy was widespread in Ireland. St Stephen’s Leper Hospital, which gave its name to the well-known Dublin park, was founded in the 14th Century.