Why is clothing referred to as leprous?

It is interesting to note that the leprous disease is used in reference to both people as well as objects—in this case, clothing. This is not by accident. According to Wenham, “Both are abnormal surface conditions that disfigure the outside of the skin or garment. Both cause the surface to flake or peel. These verses draw out other points of similarity in the diagnostic tests that are applied to distinguish clean from unclean fungal infections.”¹