Hansen's disease is generally poorly transmissible. Those Hawaiians affected were sent to Kalaupapa. Conditions in the colony were terrible, but through the efforts of Father Damien deVeuster, a Belgian priest who arrived in 1873, living conditions improved. Father Damien contracted the M. leprae infection himself and died in 1889, but his work was carried on by other dedicated persons. M. leprae proliferates best in cooler areas of the body, such as skin and peripheral nerve.
Loss of sensation leads to repeated trauma and deformity.
In the tuberculoid form, greater host resistance results in granuloma formation, and only scattered acid fast organisms are present. Modern pharmacologic therapy can easily halt Hansen's disease, making quarantine of affected persons unnecessary.