Mycobacterium lepromatosis as Cause of Leprosy, Colombia.

Leprosy is a granulomatous infection caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae or M. lepromatosis. We evaluated skin biopsy and slit skin smear samples from 92 leprosy patients in Colombia by quantitative PCR. Five (5.4%) patients tested positive for M. lepromatosis, providing evidence of the presence of this pathogen in Colombia.