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Reference.org
Nonvenereal endemic syphilis
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<p>Bejel, or endemic syphilis, is a chronic skin and tissue disease caused by infection by the <i>endemicum</i> subspecies of the <a href="/facts/Spirochete/UAy2oy6I">spirochete</a> <i><a href="/facts/Treponema_pallidum/33nBmQTg">Treponema pallidum</a></i>. Bejel is one of the "endemic treponematoses" (<a href="/facts/Endemic_(epidemiology)/YXHcRrQX">endemic</a> infections caused by spiral-shaped bacteria called <a href="/facts/Treponeme/Td85J5su">treponemes</a>), a group that also includes <a href="/facts/Yaws/obmknqrq">yaws</a> and <a href="/facts/Pinta_(disease)/ctdsKPcB">pinta</a>. Typically, endemic trepanematoses begin with localized lesions on the skin or <a href="/facts/Mucous_membrane/oIw0vyel">mucous membranes</a>. Pinta is limited to affecting the skin, whereas bejel and yaws are considered to be invasive because they can also cause disease in bone and other internal tissues. </p>