Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a disease spread by the bite of certain species of sand fly[?]. The symptoms of leishmaniasis are skin sores which erupt weeks to months after the person affected is bitten by sand flies. Other consequences, which can become manifest anywhere from a few months to years after infection, include fever, damage to the spleen and liver, and anaemia.

It can be transmitted in many tropical and sub-tropical countries, although the preponderance of cases occur in Bangladesh, Brazil, India and Sudan.

There are four main forms of leishmaniasis.

• Visceral leishmaniasis[?] - the most serious form and potentially fatal if untreated.

• Cutaneous leishmaniasis[?] - the most common form which causes numerous sores on the body, which heal within a few months leaving unpleasant looking scars.

• Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis[?] - this form produces widespread skin lesions which resemble leprosy and is particularly difficult to treat.

• Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis[?] - commences with skin ulcers which spread causing tissue damage to (particularly) nose and mouth

Synonyms for leishmaniasis include kala azar, Black Fever and Dum-Dum fever. The disease is named for William Boog Leishman.