People often think of leprosy as a bygone disease, relevant primarily in biblical times. But in fact, it is still present in more than 120 countries, and the US is seeing an uptick in cases.
Neglected tropical diseases are often associated with social exclusion as well as physical suffering. One billion people around the world suffer from these diseases.
Museum archives hold biological specimens that have been collected over years or even decades. Modern molecular analysis of these collections can reveal information about pathogens and their spread.
As ready as you are to be done with COVID-19, it’s not going anywhere soon. A historian of disease describes how once a pathogen emerges, it’s usually here to stay.
Racism against fellow Indians and classism against the poor characterised India’s early response to coronavirus, that is reminiscent of British imperial public health policies.
Armadillos and humans are linked in the strangest of ways. Armadillos are the only other species known to get leprosy. A surge in cases in Brazil gives reason for concern there and in the US.
World TB Day will be observed March 24, with the good news that deaths from tuberculosis are declining. But a trend toward confining those with TB threatens to stall advances.