Herein, we describe a case of leprosy in a 29-year-old pregnant southeast-asian woman who presented with joint pain and multiple disseminated erythematous macules, papules and plaques. Histological examination and stains for acid-fast bacilli from skin biopsies substantiated the clinical suspicion of a cutaneous mycobacterial disease and both should be performed in all patients with unidentified skin lesions. The definitive laboratory diagnosis of leprosy was achieved by the application of a species-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction from infected tissue.