The leprosy agents Mycobacterium lepromatosis and Mycobacterium leprae in Mexico.

Background: Mycobacterium leprae was the only known cause of leprosy until 2008, when a new species, named Mycobacterium lepromatosis, was found to cause diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL), a unique form of leprosy endemic in Mexico.

Methods: We sought to differentiate the leprosy agents among 120 Mexican patients with various clinical forms of leprosy and to compare their relative prevalences and disease features. Archived skin biopsy specimens from these patients were tested for both M.

Identification of the leprosy agent Mycobacterium lepromatosis in Singapore.

Background: A new leprosy-causing species, namely Mycobacterium lepromatosis, was discovered recently to be the cause of diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL) in Mexico. It is unknown whether this organism exists beyond Mexico.

Methods: We sought to determine the identity of the mycobacteria in the skin tissue of two patients from Singapore who died of DLL.