Here are some hints… This disease is considered a ‘classic’ in tropical medicine. It’s generally considered to be highly contagious, but really is not. Control of the disease has improved in recent years, though many people are still suffering from the permanent disability that it brings. Enough hints? This deformity is caused by leprosy. Caused by a very slow growing organism, similar to tuberculosis, a person with leprosy generally must live in close contact with other before they acquire the disease themselves. Leprosy causes damage to skin. But more importantly, it also leads to destruction of peripheral nerves – rendering people without pain sensation. In the case of the woman in this photo, small infected cuts and burns to the fingers and hands over a period of years eventually caused necrosis of all her fingers.