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A picture dated 29 May 2004 of a community of leprosy sufferers living on the streets of Dakar, Senegal. Sunday 30 January 2005 will be the 52nd World Leprosy Day. Half a million people are estimated by the United Nations' World Health Organisation to be infected annually by the treatable disease. The WHO has set 2005 as the year that leprosy is to be eradicated. Caused by a bacteria similar to tuberculosis, leprosy, or Hansen's disease, named for the Norwegian biologist who isolated the bacteria, is a slow-evolving ailment that can remain in the body for up to 20 years without manifesting symptoms. Scientists today have discovered genetic variants that could place more people at risk to the disease. (KEYSTONE/EPA/NIC BOTHMA)