Bacteria Genomes - MYCOBACTERIUM LEPRAE

M. leprae is a Gram-positive , aerobic rod surrounded by the characteristic waxy coating unique to Mycobacteria. It was discovered in 1873 when Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen demonstrated that rod-shaped bodies were directly related to the nodules of leprosy patients.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, straight or slightly curved rod-shaped organism with parallel sized and rounded ends. It is an obligate intracellular organism and grows and divides inside macrophages and Schwann cells. It is further characterised by an extremely slow doubling time of 12-14 days, favouring temperatures of around 30 degrees C. M. leprae is the only species of mycobacteria to infect peripheral nerves.

Leprosy mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes. Symptoms may include lesions in the skin, paralysis and loss of sensation on lesioned areas, loss of fingers, toes and nose and blindness due to infection of the eye.

Mycobacterium leprae is transmitted through respiration, breaks in the skin and possibly through environmental contacts.

The World Health Organisation has introduced a multi-national programme based on the syndromic management of leprosy with the objective of eliminating the disease. The programme involves active case finding and multidrug therapy (MDT). Over the past 10 years there has been a 5-fold reduction in the prevalence of leprosy due to the success of this programme.

References:

Nature 409 (6823):1007-11, 2001
http://infolep.antenna.nl/leprosy/mycobacterium.html
http://www.mycobacteriumleprae.homestead.com/