Leprosy

Question: leprosy???????????????????????????????... can you get leprosy in your throat???? I thought it could only infect your skin?!?!?!?!?!?

Answer: Lepercy can infect membraneous tissues, which means if you ingest the disease, you run a risk of dying from the inside out. Internal membranes are not as tough as your skin

Question: Does Squash with chicken causes leprosy? My mom and grandmother do not cook with squash or monggo with chicken.They say it causes leprosy. Is this true?

Answer: Leprosy is a bactieral problem. Not associated with chicken or foods. Unless the food is contaminated. So the answer is no those ingredients do not cause leprosy. It may be just an old wives tale that got twisted in the passing of the information from generation to generation. .

Question: Can dogs contract or transmit leprosy from armadillos? Last night my dog attacked a three banded armadillo in Texas. Armadillos can carry leprosy. Look it up if you doubt me. Could my dog be at risk for contracting the disease? I know humans can contract leprosy from armadillos but could my dog? Or could he be a carrier for the disease and thereby expose my family to danger?

Answer: Cynthis M, Nine-banded armadillos, of which there are 30 to 50 million in the southeastern U.S., are believed to be the only significant natural reservoir of leprosy apart from humans. (A few cases have been found in chimps and mangabey monkeys in Africa.) How the armadillos got leprosy in the first place is unknown. I do not believe that a dog is able to contract leprosy. I know that the incubation period is about three to five years but signs and symptoms can take as long as 20 years to appear. My colleague, who is a vet, is presently on holiday and unable to inform me. If you have any doubts you would be advised to contact your vet and ask. Hope this helps matador 89

Question: How does the leprosy actually spread? Leprosy is caused by bacteria that disrupts the hosts' tissues and attack the skin and nerve endings. But how does this disease actually spread and why did people were afraid of coming near patients with leprosy?

Answer: Unknown mode of transmission, but I've read that aerisolized droplets (respiratory) is thought to be the major one. Avoiding contact would be a good idea though. Also, over half of the people infected had no known contact with an infected person..

Question: Do people with clean leprosy pass the disease onto their offspring? Would the offspring also have clean leprosy or would they be tan or albino like?

Answer: Leprosy is not usually passed on to offspring at birth. One can get leprosy from a family member with frequent exposure. The type of leprosy depends on your immune system. Not sure what you mean by "clean leprosy"...is that your term for tuberculous leprosy (the less severe non-deforming type)? Article from 1800's: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.ht…

Question: Where can I find a map online that shows where leprosy is currently active? is there a map online that shows the geographical regions where leprosy is currentlly active?

Answer: http://www.who.int/lep/situation/PrateEn… it is from the World Health Organization

Question: Is there a connection between leprosy and armidillos? So,do armidillos carry leprosy or not? Does Lou Dobbs of CNN know about this? I understand that they are moving north as a result of global warming, and showing up in states they've never been seen in before: illegal alien armidillos?

Answer: At last check, they all had visas. I do not think they checked any of them for leprosy.

Question: Can i marry a person whose father suffering from leprosy? Hi everybody, My marriage got fixed, but his father is suffering from leprosy, we both r interested....but my parents are scared, they r not ready.......pls guide me what to do?

Answer: Yes.... There is no problem at all.... Your hubby is not affected anyway... And it is not a genetic disorder... So your would be husband has as much chances of getting Leprosy as anyone else in this world... The bacteria(mycobacterium leproe) shows a generation time of 20 years and the disease can be treated well.

Question: How fast does Leprosy take to infect someone? Say you come in contact with someone who has never been treated for Leprosy, and you're out of the 5% that aren't immune. How long would it take for signs of the Leprosy to appear on your body? Ok, for some reason you didn't understand. I didn't ask for how contagious it was, I obviously already knew as said in the post. I'm asking, if you acutally ALREADY caught it, how long would it take for the symptoms to appear. -_-+

Answer: I agree that leprosy is not a very contagious disease and about 95% have immunity to it. By the way, the name is Hansen's disease. It's caused by a Mycobacterium and is spread through respiratory secretions -- coughing and sneezing -- not by contact.

Question: What is the current (2007) amount of people effected by leprosy? What is the current (2007) amount of people effected by leprosy? 2006 is okay too, i guess.

Answer: This disease is on the way out. The last numbers I heard in print were world wide approx 220,000 cases. Few countries have problems with it and with medications we have today, in another few years, Leprosy will be a thing of the past. We must keep our eyes open because one disease we thought was gone, tuberculosis, is on the rise again.