Another Indian text, the Manusmriti (200 BC),  prohibited contact with those infected with the disease and made marriage to a person infected with leprosy punishable.The Hebraic root tsara or tsaraath (צָרַע, – tsaw-rah – to be struck with leprosy, to be leprous) and the Greek (λεπρός–lepros), are of broader classification than the more narrow use of the term related to Hansens Disease. Any progressive skin disease (a whitening or splotchy bleaching of the skin, raised manifestations of scales, scabs, infections, rashes, etc....), as well as generalized molds and surface discoloration of any clothing, leather, or discoloration on walls or surfaces throughout homes all, came under the "law of leprosy" (Leviticus 14:54–57). Ancient sources such as the Talmud (Sifra 63) make clear that tzaraath refers to various types of lesions or stains associated with ritual impurity and occurring on cloth, leather, or houses, as well as skin. Traditional Judaism and Jewish rabbinical authorities, both historical and modern, emphasize that the tsaraath of Leviticus is a spiritual ailment with no direct relationship to Hansens disease or physical contagions. The relation of tsaraath to "leprosy" comes from translations of Hebrew Biblical texts into Greek and ensuing misconceptions.All three Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament describe instances of Jesus healing people with leprosy (Matthew 8:1–4, Mark 1:40–45, and Luke 5:12–16). The Bibles description of leprosy is congruous (if lacking detail) with the symptoms of modern leprosy, but the relationship between this disease, tzaraath, and Hansens disease has been disputed.
The causative agent of leprosy, M. leprae, was discovered by G. H. Armauer Hansen in Norway in 1873, making it the first bacterium to be identified as causing disease in humans. Treatment
The first effective treatment (promin) became available in the 1940s. In the 1950s, dapsone was introduced. The search for further effective antileprosy drugs led to the use of clofazimine and rifampicin in the 1960s and 1970s. Later, Indian scientist Shantaram Yawalkar and his colleagues formulated a combined therapy using rifampicin and dapsone, intended to mitigate bacterial resistance. Multi-drug therapy (MDT) combining all three drugs was first recommended by the WHO in 1981. These three antileprosy drugs are still used in the standard MDT regimens.Leprosy was once believed to be highly contagious and was treated with mercury, as was syphilis, which was first described in 1530. Many early cases thought to be leprosy could actually have been syphilis.Resistance has developed to initial treatment. Until the introduction of MDT in the early 1980s, leprosy could not be diagnosed and treated successfully within the community.Japan still has sanatoriums (although Japans sanatoriums no longer have active leprosy cases, nor are survivors held in them by law).The importance of the nasal mucosa in the transmission of M leprae was recognized as early as 1898 by Schäffer, in particular, that of the ulcerated mucosa. The mechanism of plantar ulceration in leprosy and its treatment was first described by Dr Ernest W Price. Etymology
The word "leprosy" comes from the Greek word "λέπος (lépos) – skin" and "λεπερός (leperós) – scaly man".