According to a 1856 census there were 2858 lepers in Norway. I also read that there were approximately 180 immigrants from Norway that suffered with leprosy. I have come to find out that I have several Norwegian ancestors that had leprosy. In 1856 my gg-grandfather, Kristen Bendiksen Nistad, and his family came over from Norway. If my Norwegian is correct he had had the disease for approximately ten years. Along with him came his brother who had the disease. My g-grandfather came over to the United States in 1854 along with his brother, Lars Dyrdal Markusen. The brother had leprosy. In 1874 Norway sent a specialist in Leprosy to track down and interview lepers who had traveled to the United States.  ¶ 9:34 AM