Leprosy, or Hansen's disease
Leprosy, the disease Father
Jack was helping to treat in Africa is a disease caused by a small organism
called the mycobacteria leprae. Although lepers were often put in colonies,
so as to not infect others, the disease is difficult to transmit and has a particularly
long incubation period.
People who suffer from leprosy often have lesions on their skin, and those who
have the lepromatous form of leprosy will often have large disfiguring nodules.
Leprosy also causes peripheral neurological damage, marked by sensory loss in
the skin and weakness of the muscles. Those with long-term leprosy will often
lose the use of their hands or feet.
