leper/leprosy

person with Hansen's disease/Hansen's disease. A chronic, infectious, germ-caused disease, treatable with antibiotics, Hansen's is still one of the least contagious of all communicable diseases. Underlying the stigma of Hansen's disease is the faulty association with biblical lepers—outcasts and undesirables. "Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars are in remarkable agreement as to the biblical word leprosy; it was not a medical term designating Hansen's disease or any other specific disease. Rather it denoted an afflicting stigma or blemish which marked the victim as 'unclean' under Hebrew ritualistic law" (F.C. Lendrum, "That Tragic Name of Leprosy"). Do not say someone is "suffering from," "a victim of," or "afflicted with" Hansen's disease. Avoid metaphorical uses of the term ("a social leper," "leprous wallpaper"). Terminology using "leprosy"-related terms has been officially banned by the governments of Brazil, Portugal, and Suriname, and officially abandoned by the U.S. Public Health Service's regulations.