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How did European colonists and western African slaves bring leprosy to the Americas?

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Sign reading Gandhiji Prem Nivas Leprosy Centre Titagarh conducted by Missionaries of Charity, with a crucifix above the sign on a decorated building facade. — leprosy The Gandhiji Prem Nivas is a center for people with leprosy that was established by Mother Teresa in 1958 and is run by the Missionaries of Charity in Titagarh, India.

The historical introduction of leprosy to the Americas is attributed to the movement of people during the era of colonization and the transatlantic slave trade. Specifically, the disease was brought to the Americas by European colonists and enslaved people from western Africa.1

Genetic analysis of the leprosy bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae, suggests it evolved approximately 100,000 years ago in eastern Africa or southwestern Asia. Over time, the bacillus migrated and developed distinct subtypes, including one that evolved in western Africa after being introduced there by Europeans or North Africans. As global migration patterns shifted during the colonial period, these populations carried the pathogen to the Americas, where it became established.1