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Leprosy is curable with a combination of different antibiotics, but if left untreated the patients' health can deteriorate with sores and nerve damage that cause deformities.

Years later, concerns arose when mothers living near the reclamation site gave birth to children with upper limb deformities.

He explained that his friends used to say "you don't look dyslexic" as if it was a "deformity", but he added "those were the times".

"It is very similar to people getting vaccinated to fight against various diseases. There is no report that it causes deformities or alters DNA," the academic told the BBC.

Tests on the body showed Abiyah was suffering from a catalogue of conditions including rickets, anaemia, stunted growth, bone malformation and deformity, bone fractures and severe dental decay.