Leprosy’s Origins Are Even Weirder Than We Thought

One of the world’s oldest diseases has an even more complex history than expected. Research out today reveals that a form of leprosy was stalking people in the Americas long before Europeans arrived. A large international team of scientists conducted the study, published Thursday in Science. The researchers found DNA evidence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis—a recently discovered species of leprosy-causing bacteria—infecting people in North and South America over 1,000 years ago, predating European colonization. The findings upturn the prevailing belief that Europeans were responsible for leprosy’s introduction to the New World. Leprosy’s reputation for human destruction is so notorious that it’s repeatedly referenced in the Bible (some of these references might have been about other conditions, though). These bacteria can cause a chronic infection of our skin and nerve cells, though it may take years for symptoms like lesions and sores to appear. If not treated with antibiotics, the in ... Read full article.