A crew member off a foreign ship remains quarantined at Wollongong Hospital with suspected leprosy, while health experts await test results.

The foreign ship arrived at Port Kembla recently and the man was admitted to hospital on April 2. He is now currently undergoing treatment for the potentially disfiguring disease.

Based on preliminary tests, the man had a suspected case of leprosy, which is also known as Hansen disease.

Leprosy is a bacterial infection that causes skin lesions, the most obvious physical symptom.

Casual contact with a person suspected of having leprosy is not a risk for transmission and the disease is rare in Australia, said a statement from the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service (SESIAHS).

Director of Public Health for SESIAHS, Professor Mark Aversion has reviewed the case and determined there is no health risk to anyone who has had contact with the crew member of the foreign ship at Port Kembla.

Confirmative test results are expected within the next seven days.

Australia Medicine