New etiology of leprosy in Myanmar: another two patients

The Central Special Skin Clinic in Yangon General Hospital is the main specialist clinic of the National Leprosy Control Program in Myanmar. It takes part in the Drug Resistance Surveillance Program of WHO as a sentinel site in Myanmar. About 20 specimens from suspected drug resistant cases have been sent yearly since 2007 to the Japan Leprosy Research Centre to determine drug resistance. Two patients affected by Mycobacterium lepromatosis were detected through specimens sent in 2017. A new etiology of Hansen’s disease, M. lepromatosis was reported in 2008. In Myanmar two patients with M. lepromatosis were reported in 2014, and now two more patients were identified during 2017. In this report, the two patients detected in 2017 will be described.