Dear Pugazhenthan,

according to the WHO, mycobacterium leprae has an incubation period of about 5 years, though first symptoms may take two decades to manifest. Some suggest a minimum of two years incubation period.

Here is the link:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs101/en/

Best wishes,

Immo

Dear Pugazhenthan,

The incubation period of the disease ranges from 3 to 10 years. M. leprae primarily invades Schwann cells (SCs) in the peripheral nerves leading to nerve damage and the development of disabilities.

The following is the reference for the incubation period:

Britton WJ, Lockwood DN. Leprosy. Lancet. 2004;363:1209–1219.

For more details on this topic, please see the publication contained in the following link:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3123826/

Hoping this will be helpful,

Rafik

Thank you for your replies...But concern is with incubation period in non endemic area...even with endemic areas it is almost in years and years...I am writing a correspondence regarding this to an journal...

 Thank you sir for your replies with reference