Question

Leprosy is caused by
A. Spirillum
B. Mycobacterium
C. Pseudomonas
D. Vibrio

Answer 1

Hint: Leprosy also known as Hansen’s disease is an infectious disease caused by a bacillus called Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis, the infection causes skin lesions and nerve damage. The symptoms may include skin sores, muscle weakness, lack of ability to feel pain, and poor eyesight.

Step by step answer:Leprosy also is known as Hansen’s disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by a slow-growing bacteria or bacillus called Mycobacterium leprae or Mycobacterium lepromatosis. The symptoms of infection may take from a year to even 20 years to appear. Most initial symptoms are light or red-coloured patches on the skin that develop into skin lesions or sores, nerve damage causing numbness i.e. lack of ability to feel pain and poor eyesight. The skin around the eyes and nose is mostly affected along with peripheral nerves.
Spirillum is a helical or spiral-shaped gram-negative bacteria. Spirillum minus, a member of the
The Spirillum genus causes rat-bite fever.
Mycobacterium is a genus of Actinobacteria that causes two most common infectious diseases:
Tuberculosis and Leprosy.
Pseudomonas is a genus of gram-negative bacteria that causes infections in the human body like
pneumonia.
Vibrio is a curved rod i.e. comma-shaped gram-negative bacteria that cause diseases like cholera.
Additional Information: Leprosy is curable as the treatment of leprosy can take 6-12 months of
multi-drug therapy, where early treatment can prevent disability due to repeated infection in the
same area.
Hence, the correct answer is option (D). Vibrio

Note: Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis both cause leprosy but are two different species. And Leprosy is also known as Hansen’s disease after G.H.A. Hansen the scientist who discovered Mycobacterium leprae.