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yaws
(yawz)
a highly infectious disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pertenue, transmitted primarily by direct contact with an infected person. The first symptom, usually about a month after exposure,
is a single granulomatous lesion, an inflammatory but painless elevation of the skin. Called the “mother yaw,” this soon ulcerates. Open, oozing sores appear a few weeks later on the hands, feet, face, scalp, and trunk. Eventually, after several years,
the disease causes tissue destruction, bone changes, and shortening of the fingers or toes, in a cycle resembling that of
leprosy.
Copyright 2007. An Elsevier publication. All rights reserved.
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