Leprosy seems to have appeared in the Loyalty Islands around the year 1880. In the results of a survey published in theAnnales dâHygiène et de Médecine Navale, 1894, Grall gives the earliest information on the origin of the disease at Maré and at Lifou. Around 1880, a protestant teacher returned to Guama (Maré) infected with leprosy, after spending several years in New Guinea. From Guama the disease spread to Tawaïnèdre. As early as 1899, Dr Hebrand mentions 125 people affected by the disease on Maré, a fact which bears witness to the very rapid progress of the disease in the early years following introduction. In 1912, a mortality rate of 4.2% was recorded; it reached 4.29% in 1924. (Médecin-Capitaine des Troupes Coloniales Lacour,An Attempt to Control Leprosy by BCG Vaccine in the Loyalty Islands, (South Pacific Commission, 1954)