Origin, Spread and Transmission of Leprosy
A theory proposed by Johs Anderson in 1969, suggests that leprosy may have been spread to the Mediterranean region by some of Alexander the Great’s soldiers who may have contracted the disease during the Indian Campaign 327-326 BCE. But not all the evidence supported this assumption. In 2002 a Samuel Mark proposed instead of soldiers carrying the disease, it was cargo ships carrying slaves from India to Egypt who probably conveyed leprosy to Europe and the Mediterranean region. He believed leprosy didn’t reach the Mediterranean before approximately 400 BCE. However in Egypt bones that dated to 200 BCE were discovered with leprous lesions, this strengthened Johs Anderson’s theory. A genetic study conducted by Marc Monot in 2005 places the origin of leprosy somewhere in eastern Africa or central Asia. It is believed that the bacterium was spread to other parts of the world through human migration and colonization. Dating when leprosy first appeared is difficult because it’s many forms and slow incubation time.
Leprosy is not a very contagious disease. It cannot be caught through touch and is not hereditary. Scientist are not 100% sure on the mode of transmission however many agree that the most probable way leprosy is spread is though droplets of moisture passing from an untreated leprosy patient to another person.
Leprosy is not a very contagious disease. It cannot be caught through touch and is not hereditary. Scientist are not 100% sure on the mode of transmission however many agree that the most probable way leprosy is spread is though droplets of moisture passing from an untreated leprosy patient to another person.