A skin infection, caused by TREPONEMA CARATEUM, occurring in remote villages in tropical America.
A large spot surrounded by smaller ones appears on the face, neck, buttocks, hands, or feet.
After 1–12 months it is followed by red skin patches that turn blue, then brown, and finally white.
A penicillin drug or tetracycline clears up the infection, but the skin may be permanently disfigured.
A nonvenereal tropical treponemal disease similar to yaws and caused by Treponema pertenue.
n. a skin disease, prevalent in tropical America, that is caused by the spirochaete *Treponema carateum. The disease is thought to be transmitted either by direct contact between individuals or by flies that carry the infective spirochaetes on their bodies. Symptoms include thickening and eventual loss of pigment of the skin, particularly on the hands, wrists, feet, and ankles. Pinta is treated with penicillin G.
A non-venereal disease caused by Treponema pertenue and characterised by skin and bone lesions similar to those seen in secondary syphilis. The disease is caused by a spirochaete morphologically, immunologically and serologically identical to Treponema pallidum, the cause of syphilis. Yaws is clinically very similar to another nonvenereal treponematose, pinta, caused by T. carateum and found in South America and the Caribbean.... yaws
n. a genus of anaerobic spirochaete bacteria. All species are parasitic and some cause disease in animals and humans: T. carateum causes *pinta, T. pallidum *syphilis, and T. pertenue *yaws.... treponema
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