The Health Protection Surveillance Centre were notified of a case of the infectious disease in January of this year.

According to IrishHealth.com it is believed that this is the first case in Ireland in many years.

Leprosy is not highly infectious and can be transmitted by close contact with those infected, although the man had contracted the disease prior to living in Ireland and was suffering a resurgence of it.

The skin disease can cause permanent disability, but can be treated and is even curable if caught early.

In a statement, the HSE said that “Leprosy was not included in the list of notifiable diseases in the 1981 Infectious diseases regulations and was added to them in 2012 so cases would not have been notified in this time interval (1981-2012).

“Historic data prior to 1981 may be available from the Department of Health.”

Earlier this year, an outbreak of the contagious disease tuberculosis was reported amongst students in DCU. Outbreaks of this infection occasionally occur in Ireland.