Autochthonous leprosy in Europe: a case report and literature review.

Leprosy is currently uncommon in Europe: the diagnosed cases are almost allimported from endemic areas. We report on an autochthonous case of borderline lepromatous leprosy in a 71 year-old Portuguese woman. The case was complicated by a reversal reaction and then by erythema nodosum leprosum. A review of the literature identified 18 reported cases of European autochthonous leprosy since 2000, all but one were observed in Mediterranean countries. Active clusters of leprosy therefore persist in Europe particularly in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy.