Editing Leprosy (section)

=== Historical distribution ===
Using [[comparative genomics]], in 2005, geneticists traced the origins and worldwide distribution of leprosy from East Africa or the Near East along human migration routes. They found four strains of ''M. leprae'' with specific regional locations:<ref name=Monot-et-al-2005>{{cite journal |last1=Monot |first1=Marc |last2=Honoré |first2=Nadine |last3=Garnier |first3=Thierry |last4=Araoz |first4=Romul |last5=Coppée |first5=Jean-Yves |last6=Lacroix |first6=Céline |last7=Sow |first7=Samba |last8=Spencer |first8=John S. |last9=Truman |first9=Richard W. |last10=Williams |first10=Diana L. |last11=Gelber |first11=Robert |last12=Virmond |first12=Marcos |last13=Flageul |first13=Béatrice |last14=Cho |first14=Sang-Nae |last15=Ji |first15=Baohong |last16=Paniz-Mondolfi |first16=Alberto |last17=Convit |first17=Jacinto |last18=Young |first18=Saroj |last19=Fine |first19=Paul E. |last20=Rasolofo |first20=Voahangy |last21=Brennan |first21=Patrick J. |last22=Cole |first22=Stewart T. |year=2005 |title=On the origin of leprosy |journal=Science |volume=308 |issue=5724 |pages=1040–1042 |doi=10.1126/science/1109759 |pmid=15894530 |s2cid=86109194 |url=https://hal-pasteur.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-00204117/file/Monot_science.pdf |access-date=22 November 2022 |archive-date=25 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125030851/https://hal-pasteur.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-00204117/file/Monot_science.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Monot ''et al.'' (2005) determined that leprosy originated in East Africa or the Near East and traveled with humans along their migration routes, including those of trade in goods and slaves. The four strains of ''M. leprae'' are based in specific geographic regions where each predominantly occurs:<ref name=Monot-et-al-2005/>
* strain 1 in Asia, the Pacific region, and East Africa;
* strain 2 in Ethiopia, [[Malawi]], Nepal, north India, and [[New Caledonia]];
* strain 3 in Europe, North Africa, and the Americas;
* strain 4 in West Africa and the Caribbean.

This confirms the spread of the disease along the migration, colonisation, and slave trade routes taken from East Africa to India, West Africa to the New World, and from Africa to Europe and vice versa.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Monot M, Honoré N, Garnier T, Araoz R, Coppée JY, Lacroix C, Sow S, Spencer JS, Truman RW, Williams DL, Gelber R, Virmond M, Flageul B, Cho SN, Ji B, Paniz-Mondolfi A, Convit J, Young S, Fine PE, Rasolofo V, Brennan PJ, Cole ST | title = On the origin of leprosy | journal = Science | volume = 308 | issue = 5724 | pages = 1040–1042 | date = May 2005 | pmid = 15894530 | doi = 10.1126/science/1109759 | author-link17 = Jacinto Convit | s2cid = 86109194 | url = https://hal-pasteur.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-00204117/file/Monot_science.pdf | access-date = 22 November 2022 | archive-date = 25 January 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230125030851/https://hal-pasteur.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-00204117/file/Monot_science.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

Skeletal remains discovered in 2009 represent the oldest documented evidence for leprosy, dating to the 2nd millennium BC.<ref name="Schug2009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Robbins G, Tripathy VM, Misra VN, Mohanty RK, Shinde VS, Gray KM, Schug MD | title = Ancient skeletal evidence for leprosy in India (2000 B.C.) | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 4 | issue = 5 | pages = e5669 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19479078 | pmc = 2682583 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0005669 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2009PLoSO...4.5669R }}</ref><ref name="Schug2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Robbins Schug G, Blevins KE, Cox B, Gray K, Mushrif-Tripathy V | title = Infection, disease, and biosocial processes at the end of the Indus Civilization | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 12 | pages = e84814 | date = December 2013 | pmid = 24358372 | pmc = 3866234 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0084814 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2013PLoSO...884814R }}</ref> Located at [[Balathal]], Rajasthan, in northwest India, the discoverers suggest that if the disease did migrate from Africa to India during the 3rd millennium BC "at a time when there was substantial interaction among the Indus Civilization, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, there needs to be additional skeletal and molecular evidence of leprosy in India and Africa to confirm the African origin of the disease".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Robbins G, Tripathy VM, Misra VN, Mohanty RK, Shinde VS, Gray KM, Schug MD | title = Ancient skeletal evidence for leprosy in India (2000 B.C.) | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 4 | issue = 5 | pages = e5669 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19479078 | pmc = 2682583 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0005669 | bibcode = 2009PLoSO...4.5669R | doi-access = free }}</ref> A proven human case was verified by DNA taken from the shrouded remains of a man discovered by researchers from the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] in a tomb in [[Akeldama]], next to the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] dated by radiocarbon methods to the first half of the 1st century.<ref>{{cite web |title=DNA of Jesus-Era Shrouded Man in Jerusalem Reveals Earliest Case of Leprosy |website=ScienceDaily |date=16 December 2009 |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216103558.htm |access-date=31 January 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220033542/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091216103558.htm |archive-date=20 December 2009 }}</ref>

The oldest strains of leprosy known from Europe are from [[Great Chesterford]] in southeast England and date back to AD 415&ndash;545. These findings suggest a different path for the spread of leprosy, meaning it may have originated in western Eurasia. This study also indicates that there were more strains in Europe at the time than previously determined.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schuenemann VJ, Avanzi C, Krause-Kyora B, Seitz A, Herbig A, Inskip S, Bonazzi M, Reiter E, Urban C, Dangvard Pedersen D, Taylor GM, Singh P, Stewart GR, Velemínský P, Likovsky J, Marcsik A, Molnár E, Pálfi G, Mariotti V, Riga A, Belcastro MG, Boldsen JL, Nebel A, Mays S, Donoghue HD, Zakrzewski S, Benjak A, Nieselt K, Cole ST, Krause J | title = Ancient genomes reveal a high diversity of Mycobacterium leprae in medieval Europe | journal = PLOS Pathogens | volume = 14 | issue = 5 | pages = e1006997 | date = May 2018 | pmid = 29746563 | pmc = 5944922 | doi = 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006997 | doi-access = free }}</ref>