Leprosy appears to be contagious, but far less so than other infectious diseases. It seems that leprosy is only contagious when a person has untreated leprosy. Once the disease has been treated, a person becomes noninfectious within a short period of time. Most specialists agree that more than 95 percent of the world's population has a natural immunity to the disease.
Not all forms of leprosy are contagious. The tuberculoid or paucibacillary form is not contagious.
(Click Leprosy Transmission to learn more about how the disease is spread and factors that can contribute to this, such as genetics or environment.)
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