What Is Leprosy?
5. Transmission
Leprosy is caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacterium. It is not a highly contagious disease and somebody would usually need to spend long periods of time with an infected person to become infected themselves. It is usually spread by mucus when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is also thought the disease can be transmitted by armadillos.
The patient is unlikely to start showing any symptoms until on average around 5 years after they were initially affected. However, it can take as little as 1 year for symptoms to show in some people, and as many as 20 years for others. The disease will also progress slowly once the patient does begin to show symptoms.
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