Aug 28, 2020
A man with yaws: head and neck. Photograph by L.W. Sambon (Louis Westenra), 1865-1931.
Yaws is an infection of the skin, bones and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum pertenue. The causative agent of yaws was discovered in 1905 by Aldo Castellani in ulcers of patients from Ceylon, modern day Sri Lanka.Yaws is spread by direct contact with the fluid from a lesion of an infected person, and is most common amongst children who spread the bacteria while playing together. Currently almost 85% of infections occurred in three countries—Ghana, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.
