Leprosy is caused by bacteria called mycobacterium leprae and it was first discovered in 1873. However, for a very long time doctors did to understand how leprosy spreads. Some scientists believed that leprosy can spread from the infected person to another person through respiratory droplets. A research then later showed that actually more than 50 percent of the people who developed the disease had no contact with another leprosy infected person.

Leprosy is not a contagious disease and does not spread through touching. Some of the factors contributing the spread of leprosy could be environmental factors, poor immunity of the person and also the exposure to the bacteria.

If one of the parents has leprosy, then they can pass it on to their children and vice versa. People of the same family are more likely to get the disease if there is even one person infected with leprosy. However, it is very difficult to understand how leprosy spreads in a household people who actually live in good sanitized conditions. In India, leprosy was found highly in people who lived in the slums of Calcutta. Some doctors believed that even poor hygiene and lack of sanitation could have led to the high rate of leprosy in the city.

There is no competing treatment or a vaccination for leprosy. However, if the disease has been diagnosed in its early stages, then it can be easily cured. The spread of the bacteria can be brought under control so that it does not take over the skin in the body.

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