Leprosy - Part 1

The last week i was volunteering at abou zaabal, at the leprosy, as i have been doing in summer for the last 3 years.
i'll try to talk more about the place, and things related to all that but as i am really busy, i'll try to post whenever i can.

Here is the first article, about the desease itself. i'm not a doctor, i don't understand all the technical words, so i'll simplify it as much as i can. Excuse me if i'm not getting into much details or if there r some mistakes (but u have to tell me about them)

Although leprosy was well known since old time, the bacteria causing it, Mycobacterium leprae, was discovered in 1873 by Gerhard A. Hansen (1841-1912). it comes from the greek word "lepros".

The symptoms of this disease:

• loss of sensation at the nerve end
• destroyed blood vessels, ligaments and skin tissues
• eroded bones
• sores
• ulcers
• scabs ( i don't know what this means so don't ask me, ask professionals)

Leprosy is neither hereditary nor infected by touch.
Close contact over a long period of time with an untreated person is needed in order to be infected with the disease. (the place i go, in abou zaabal, all people are already treated, i'll talk about there later in following posts).
and finally, leprosy can be cured.

sources:
http://www.tipsofallsorts.com/leprosy.html
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Projects/Margin/lepers.htm
http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec10641/