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Why do the skin diseases called leprosy in the Bible not necessarily mean Hansenās disease?
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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 term "leprosy" as used in the Bibleāreferring to both the tzaraath of the Hebrew Bible and the lepra of the Greek New Testamentādoes not necessarily correspond to the modern medical definition of Hansenās disease.
The biblical descriptions of these conditions are not clinically recognizable in a way that aligns with the specific infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Instead, scholars and medical historians generally conclude that the term was used as a broad, non-specific label for a variety of severe, chronic skin conditions prevalent at the time.1