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VIII.79 - Leishmaniasis

from Part VIII - Major Human Diseases Past and Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

Kenneth F. Kiple
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University, Ohio
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Summary

Leishmaniasis is primarily a skin disease produced by a number of different species of protozoa (genus Leishmania). The disease occurs in three basic clinical forms, each of which has several variants caused by different species, subspecies, or strains of the pathogen. The intermediate host is the sandfly.

Distribution and Incidence

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (often called “oriental sore”) is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (republics of the former Soviet Union), Afghanistan, India, Iran, much of the Middle East and North Africa, the Sahara, the savanna states from Sudan to Senegal, and in Kenya and Ethiopia. In the New World, species of Leishmania cause various clinical forms of the disease in Central America, the Amazon Basin, the Guyanas, and the Andes, especially Venezuela and Peru. In eastern South America a form of the disease mainly afflicting children extends from Argentina to Venezuela and north through Central America to Mexico.

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is restricted to the New World and occurs in Brazil, eastern Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Visceral leishmaniasis is found in India, Burma, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Somalia, Chad, Kenya, Gabon, Sudan, and Niger. A variant occurring primarily among children is spread over southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as well as Romania and the southern part of the former Soviet Union.

As a result of high levels of disease in rodent and dog populations, leishmaniasis is so common in endemic areas that it leaves its mark on every inhabitant. Recent estimates indicate that some 12 million individuals have one form or another of this infection.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

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References

Gade, Daniel W. 1979. Inca and colonial settlement, coca cultivation and endemic disease in the tropical forest. Journal of Historical Geography 5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrer, Aristides, and Christensen, Howard A.. 1975. Implication of Phlebotomus sand flies as vectors of bartonellosis and leishmaniasis as early as 1764. Science 190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, T. C. et al. 1987. Epidemiology of America: Cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania braziliensis. Journal of Infectious Diseases 156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kean, B. H., Mott, Kenneth E., and Russell, Adair J., eds. 1978. Tropical medicine and parasitology: Classic investigations, Vol. I. Ithaca.Google Scholar
Lainson, R., and Shaw, J. J.. 1978. Epidemiology and ecology of Leishmaniasis in Latin America. Nature (Parasitology Supplement) 273.Google ScholarPubMed
Markell, Edward K., Voge, Marietta, and John, David T.. 1986. Medical parasitology, 6th edition. Philadelphia..Google Scholar
Strong, R. P. 1944. Stitts diagnosis, prevention and treatment of tropical disease. 7th edition. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Vianna, Gaspar Oliveira. 1911. Sobre o tratemento de leishmaniose tegumentar. Anais Paulistas de Medicina e Cirurgia 2.Google Scholar

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  • Leishmaniasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.141
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  • Leishmaniasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.141
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Leishmaniasis
  • Edited by Kenneth F. Kiple, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  • Book: The Cambridge World History of Human Disease
  • Online publication: 28 March 2008
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.141
Available formats
×