About the Authors

Marcus Beissner

Contributed equally to this work with: Marcus Beissner, Kristina Lydia Huber

beissner@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Kristina Lydia Huber

Contributed equally to this work with: Marcus Beissner, Kristina Lydia Huber

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Kossi Badziklou

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Wemboo Afiwa Halatoko

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Issaka Maman

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Felix Vogel

Affiliation Institute for Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

Bawimodom Bidjada

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Koffi Somenou Awoussi

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Ebekalisai Piten

Affiliation Centre Hospitalier Régional Maritime (CHR Maritime), Tsévié, Togo

Kerstin Helfrich

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Carolin Mengele

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Jörg Nitschke

Affiliations Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW), Würzburg, Germany

Komi Amekuse

Affiliation German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association, Togo Office (DAHWT), Lomé, Togo

Franz Xaver Wiedemann

Affiliation German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association, Togo Office (DAHWT), Lomé, Togo

Adolf Diefenhardt

Affiliation German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW), Würzburg, Germany

Basile Kobara

Affiliation Programme National de Lutte contre l'Ulcère de Buruli – Lèpre et Pian (PNLUB-LP), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Karl–Heinz Herbinger

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Abiba Banla Kere

Affiliation Institut National d'Hygiène (INH), Ministry of Health, Lomé, Togo

Mireille Prince-David

Affiliation Département des Sciences Fondamentales et Biologiques, Faculté Mixte de Médecine et de Pharmacie (FMMP), Université de Lomé (UL), Lomé, Togo

Thomas Löscher

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Gisela Bretzel

Affiliation Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (DITM), University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Clinical management: EP JN KA AD BK. Designed analysis software & data management: MB KLH IM FV BB KSA KH JN KA AD BK GB. Conceived and designed the experiments: MB KLH KB WAH IM BB KSA KH CM JN KA FXW AD BK ABK MPD TL GB. Performed the experiments: MB KLH IM FV BB KSA KH CM KHH. Analyzed the data: MB KLH KB WHA IM FV BB KSA EP KH CM JN KA FXW AD BK KHH ABK MPD TL GB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: KB WAH FV EP FXW AD BK KHH ABK TL GB. Wrote the paper: MB KLH KB WHA JN KA FXW KHH ABK MPD TL GB.