A Nepali man working in Croatia has been diagnosed with leprosy in what is the first case of the infectious disease in the country since 1993. The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) said the patient received prescribed antibiotic therapy immediately and that close contacts were identified in time after the case was confirmed in the coastal city of Split on December 14.

The patient with symptoms had contacted the epidemiology service in Split around 10 days earlier. The HZJZ said the patient stopped being infectious very quickly after receiving antibiotics and stressed there was no danger of the disease spreading. He was reportedly a foreign worker from Nepal who has lived in Croatia for two years with family members.

HZJZ said all close contacts were identified in a short time and were included in appropriate procedures including examination and treatment.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a rare chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae.

The disease is fully curable with available and effective antibiotic treatment carried out under international guidance from the World Health Organization.

Infectious disease specialist Dr Bruno Barsic, of Dubrava Clinical Hospital, said infection requires prolonged close contact such as living in the same household and sleeping in the same bed under poor living conditions.

He said there was no reason for panic because it was not an epidemic, but an individual case, and that there was no danger the disease would spread.

The last recorded case of leprosy in Croatia was in 1993, according to Dr Barsic.

A family medicine organisation, KoHOM, said it had previously warned about problems in treating foreign workers, including missing information about vaccination status and communication difficulties when many do not speak Croatian or English.

But Croatian epidemiologist Bernard Kaic emphasised: “There is absolutely no reason for the public to be concerned.”