Tuberculosis "May Have Killed Off Leprosy"

Human remains dating from the 1st Century AD suggest tuberculosis (TB) may have killed off leprosy in Europe. Scientists at University College London have been examining a shrouded body recently discovered in a sealed chamber in Israel. The bones reveal the man was infected with both TB and leprosy. Given that TB is the more aggressive and faster-killing of the two, the scientists say it would have won the battle of the diseases. In the Middle Ages, leprosy was widespread. Around this time, TB began to spread across Europe and overtook leprosy, which has become a relatively rare disease now in comparison to TB. There is a theory that having one of these diseases protects a person against contracting the other one, which is called cross immunity. Some say this theory explains the rise of TB and fall of leprosy - more people caught TB and were therefore protected against leprosy.