4
HISTORY OF LEPROSY
Gerhard Armauer Hansen
-Leprosy arose since 1550 BC written in an Egyptian papyrus document.
-Throughout the years leprosy has been misunderstoond, it was thought to be a hereditary disease, a curse, or punishment from the gods.
- In the Middle Ages leper patients had to wear special clothing and ring bells to warn others as they walked by.
-In 1921, the U.S. Public Health Service established the nation’s first leprosarium, located in what is now known as Carville, Louisiana.
-U.S. Public Health Service established the Gillis W. Long Hansen’s Disease Center in Carville, Louisiana, which became known as “Carville.” It became a center of research and testing to find a cure for leprosy and a live-in treatment center for leprosy patients.
^ was the first person to identify the germ that causes leprosy under a microscope. Hansen's discovery of Mycobacterium leprae proved that leprosy was caused by a germ, and was thus not hereditary, from a curse, or from a sin.