The plague that will not die

摘要

When he travels, David Scollard has learned that it's best not to tell fellow passengers what he does for a living. "The first response is to lean away from me in the seat," says Scollard, a pathologist at the National Hansen's Disease Programs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the world's biggest leprosy lab. "And then they look at me with that shocked look: 'I thought that was gone.'" Those mildly alarmed travellers are not alone in wishing away a disease that has plagued humanity for at least 2600 years, bringing with it centuries of fear and stigma. After all, Scollard's story is mirrored countless times whenever scientists or clinicians inform their astounded listeners that leprosy is still alive and, unfortunately, well.