RESUMO
This paper is a descriptive epidemiologic study of the occurrence of leprosy among foreign Protestant missionaries in Nigeria and neighboring parts of French West Africa. The material on the studied population and leprosy cases among them was collected by means of questionnaires sent out to the individual missionaries and the doctors of the missions participating in the study. 1- Among 907 missionaries in NOrthern Nigeria, there were 12 leprosy cases, giving a prevalence rate of 13.2 per 100 persons. Thre is a leprosy prevalence of 35 per thousand in the indigenous population of this Region. 2- Among 302 missionaries in the southern part of Nigeria and neighboring parts of French West Africa there were no leprosy cases. Some suggestions are offered to explain this difference. 3- In 2 schools for missionaries' children in Northern Nigeria, with a total of 223 children, we found one early case (indeterminate type). This single case gives a leprosy prevalence in the children of 4.5 per 1000 persons. 4 Most of the 12 infected adults had mild forms of leprosy, 8 of them being minor tuberculoid. There were also 2 dimorphous cases, and 2 persons with the lepromatous type. 5- All the people who developed leprosy were born in the United States or Canada. We do not know why, of the persons born in other parts of the world and representing one-third of the studied population, none developed leprosy. 6- Those missionaries who had the largest amount of contact with the local population and / or known leprosy cases - clergymen, persons doing leprosy work, and female evangelistic workers - had higher attack rates than teachers and persons doing general medical work. Similarly, single women had a higher attack rate than married women.
