in
Culion old town in
Palawan,
Philippines used to shelter one of the largest populations of lepers in
Asia, numbering between 3,500–4,000. in
North Devon, England, formerly a medieval leper colony 's quarters at the leper colony on
Chacachacare Island in
Trinidad and Tobago Although not all of the skin diseases (
kushtha) discussed in the Indian
Vedas and the
Manusmriti were leprosy, some of them seem to have been, with the disease appearing in the subcontinent by at least 2000BCE. The Indian religious texts and laws did not organize formal leper colonies but treated those afflicted with the disease as
untouchable outcastes, forbidding and punishing any marriage with them while they suffered from the disease, which was considered both
contagious and a
divine retribution for sins of the sufferer's current or
former life. In legend, even kings were removed from power and left to wander in the forests while suffering from leprosy, although their position could be restored in the event of their recovery, whether through divine intervention or
Ayurvedic herbal remedies such as
chaulmoogra oil. Similarly, the
Persians and
Israelites considered certain skin diseases to render people unclean and unfit for society, without organizing any special locations for their care; it seems likely, however, that the references to leprosy in the
Hebrew Bible and
New Testament are the result of a misunderstanding produced by the
Septuagints
Koine Greek translation and subsequent
Latin translations like the
Vulgate and originally referred to a variety of conditions such as
psoriasis before becoming associated with leprosy centuries later. This confusion of termsand the related divine opprobriumwas then translated into
medicine in the medieval Islamic world in the 9th century. The introduction of leprosy to
Southern Europe was blamed on the armies of
Alexander the Great and
Pompey the Great;
ancient Greek and
Roman physicians did not blame divine punishment and advocated various treatments but still usually advised that lepers be kept out of cities. The area of modern
Belgium alone may have had as many as 700 or 800 prior to the
Crusades. Some leper colonies
issued their own money or tokens, in the belief that allowing people affected by leprosy to handle regular money could spread the disease. Today, leper hospitals exist throughout the world to treat those afflicted with leprosy, especially in Africa, Brazil, China and India. == Political aspects ==