Types of leprosy

How it spreads

Hansen's disease likely spreads when a person sick with the disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria.

Hansen's disease does not spread easily between people.

Most people cannot get Hansen's disease. Around 95 percent of people cannot be infected because their immune system can fight off the bacteria that causes Hansen's disease.

In addition, you must have prolonged, close contact with someone with untreated Hansen's disease over many months to catch the disease.

Hansen's disease is not spread through sex, and it is not passed to the fetus during pregnancy.

In the southern United States, some armadillos are naturally infected with the bacteria that cause Hansen's disease, and it may be possible that the animals can spread it to people.

However, the risk is very low and most people who come into contact with armadillos are unlikely to get Hansen's disease.