Leprosy History
Leprosy History: 19th Century
1886
Leprosy colony founded on the Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Molokai in modern day Hawaii. About 8,000 Hawaiians were sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula from 1866 through 1969, when the mandatory isolation law was finally lifted.
1873
Dr. Armauer Hansen of Norway was the first to see the leprosy germ under a microscope. This was a revolutionary discovery. The evidence was clear: leprosy is caused by a germ (Mycobacterium leprae). It was not hereditary, a curse, or from sin. Because of Dr. Hansen’s work, leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease.
1873
Father Damien arrives in Kalaupapa. The Belgian priest died of leprosy in 1889. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized.
1894
Louisiana Leper Home is established on the site of what is now known as Carville, Louisiana. Five men and two women with leprosy were brought by barge to the now-abandoned sugar plantation on a bend of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Leprosy History: 20th Century
Early 20th century: From the early 1900s through the late 1940s, leprosy doctors in Africa, Asia, the Far East, South America and elsewhere injected patients with oil from the chaulmoogra nut. This painful treatment appeared to work for some patients. However, the long-term benefits were questionable.
1905-1921
Penikese Island Leper Colony is operated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on an island off the coast of New Bedford and Woods Hole. Anyone in the state who was found to have leprosy was forcibly sent there. During its 16 years in operation, 36 people were treated. Fifteen died, seven were deported, one was released for treatment elsewhere and 13 were transferred to the new facility in Carville, Louisiana.
1906
The organization that would become American Leprosy Missions is founded in New York City by a group of seven prominent ministers, mission executives and businessmen at the urging of Thomas Bailey, a representative from the London-based “Mission to Lepers in India and the East.”
1917
An act to establish a national leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana is passed by the U.S. Senate. Senate Bill number 4086 was introduced by William M. Danner, from the American Leprosy Missions, Rupert Blue, MD, Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, and Senator Joseph E. Ransdell, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and National Quarantine.
1921
A national leprosarium run by the U.S. Public Health Service is founded in Carville at the former Louisiana Leper Home. Patients were not allowed to leave the grounds. More information about leprosy isolation policies in the U.S. and Japan.
1941
This year saw the introduction of promin for leprosy treatment at “Carville,” the U.S. Public Health Service facility in Louisiana. There was a painful downside to promin: it required too many injections.
1946
Leprosy patients in the U.S. are given the right to vote.
1950s
Dr. R.G. Cochrane was a pioneer in the use of dapsone pills which became the treatment of choice during the 1950s. Disappointment followed, though, as the leprosy bacilli began developing dapsone resistance.
1960s
Dr. Paul W. Brand begins the first rehabilitation research program for leprosy patients at Carville. Studies begin in the biomechanics of deformity of hands and feet. The development of amputation prevention footcare techniques begin and today also help people with diabetes and other diseases. Dr. Brand’s methodology of measuring, healing and prevention techniques and reconstructive surgery of hands and feet live on today.
1970s
Success at last! Drug trials on the island of Malta in the 1970s led to an effective combination of drugs to treat leprosy.
1981
The World Health Organization started recommending multi-drug therapy, or MDT. The three drugs, taken in combination, are dapsone, rifampicin (or rifampin) and clofazimine. Treatment takes from six months to a year or more.
1982
American Leprosy Missions pioneered the use of multi-drug therapy in its projects. Since then, millions of people have been cured of leprosy with MDT.
1996
Japanese law that required the isolation of leprosy patients is finally abolished.
Leprosy History: 21st Century – The Long Fight is Not Over Yet
2002
American Leprosy Missions partners with the Infectious Disease Research Institute to develop a leprosy vaccine.
2012
The Leonard Wood Memorial for the Eradication of Leprosy, founded in 1928, merges with American Leprosy Missions.
2017