Epidemiological report of the Americas
2019
The Americas publishes the report of the leishmaniasis surveillance in 18 countries in the region for the year 2017
MoreThis timeline traces the history of the disease, starting with the first description of the disease, and all the epidemiological history, as well as that of case management, control of the disease, and WHO's involvement and its ongoing battle against the disease.
The earliest description of leishmaniasis in the Old World presents the disease as “Nile Pimple” in Pharaoh’s Papyrology.
View on timelineBonanni, in Rome, Italy, gives the first recognizable description of a sandfly as a species of Culex, or mosquito.
View on timelineAlexander Russell (1715–1768) provides the first description in English of a lesion resembling cutaneous leishmaniasis as the “Aleppo evil” after examining a Turkish patient from (what is now) the Syrian Arab Republic.
View on timelineScopoli describes the first member of the Diptera group of sandflies as papatasi.
View on timelineKala-azar is first noticed in an outbreak in Jessore in India (now Bangladesh) of a fever characterized by relapses and progressive emaciation that fails to respond to quinine; by 1862, the disease has spread to Burdwan where it reaches epidemic proportions and becomes known as “Burdwan fever”, “kala-azar” or “black disease”.
View on timelineRondani and Berte establish the genus of the sandflies Phlebotomus.
View on timelineDavid Douglas Cunningham (1843–1914) makes the first drawings of Leishmania amastigotes isolated from lesions of “Delhi boil” in India. As a Professor of Medicine and Pathology in India, he makes a number of contributions to parasitology including early accounts of Entamoeba coli and Trichomonas hominis.
View on timelineThe focal nature of the infection was noted in the 19th century by Rogers who introduced the practice of destroying villages and resiting them. The next method of control was finding all the cases and treating them, which was expensive and time-consuming but over period of time has proved successful.
View on timelinePeter Fokich Borovsky (1863–1932), a physician in the Russian army, fully describes for the first time the causative organism of Old World leishmaniasis and accurately describes small bodies in the lesions of “Oriental sore” in Tashkent.
View on timelineJames Homer Wright (1969–1928), chief of pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, comes across an Armenian girl suffering from “Delhi sore” from whose lesions he discovers numerous organisms that are indescribable to him. Wright names the organism Helicosoma tropicum (today known as Leishmania tropica).
View on timelineWilliam Leishman (1865–1926), a doctor in the Scottish army, publishes his identification of the parasite in the spleen of an English private who had died of Dumdum fever in Dum-Dum, India in 1900. Leishman becomes the first person to identify the causative agent of kala-azar; however, he identifies the organisms as trypanosomes.
View on timelineCharles Donovan (1863–1951), serving in the Indian Medical Service but unaware of Leishman’s discovery, independently confirms what are known as Leishman–Donovan bodies and makes the first description of the link between Leishman–Donovan bodies and kala-azar.
View on timelineRonald Ross (1857–1932) investigates the causative parasite of kala-azar in Calcutta and realizes that the parasite discovered by Donovan is the same as that seen by Leishman; Ross creates the genus Leishmania and names the parasite Leishmania donovani in their honour. Born in India, Ross joins the Indian Medical Service in 1881, and wins the Nobel Prize in 1902 for his elucidation of malaria transmission by mosquitoes.
View on timelineCathoire and Laveran describe visceral leishmaniasis in children with infantile splenic anaemia as a different form of the disease that attacks only infants, does not occur in epidemics but that remains endemic. The parasite concerned is now known as L. infantum in the Old World.
View on timelineCharles Jules Henry Nicolle, a French bacteriologist, describes species causing visceral leishmaniasis in children in Tunisia suffering from splenic anaemia. Together with Charles Comte, he discovers the parasite in dogs in Tunis, establishing them as important reservoir hosts for visceral leishmaniasis.
View on timelineAdolpho Lindenberg first detects various skin lesions of humans in Latin America as due to species of Leishmania by showing Leishman–Donovan bodies (amastigotes) in patients with “úlcera de Bauru” in São Paulo State, Brazil.
View on timelineSplendore demonstrates the presence of the parasite in mucocutaneous lesions of espundia, a mucosal leishmaniasis
View on timelineGaspar Vianna, a young physician in Rio de Janeiro, claims that the parasites in South America differ from those in Africa and India and creates a new species, Leishmania brazilienses (later amended to L. braziliensis by Matta in 1916).
View on timelineWenyon demonstrates incrimination of Phlebotomus as the probable vector of diseases caused by Leishmania in the Old World.
View on timelineGaspar Vianna (1885–1914), a Brazilian clinician and scientist, introduces the use of tartar emetic (trivalent antimony) as treatment for cutaneous and muco-cutaneous leishmaniasis.
View on timelineMigone reports the first documented case, which was from Paraguay. The history of viceral leishmaniais in South America is relatively short and dominated by arguments about whether or not it was imported from the Old World in relatively recent times.
View on timelineDifferentiation of parasites causing “dry urban” and “wet rural” cutaneous leishmaniasis
View on timelineG. Di Cristina and G. Caronia, demonstrate efficacy of antimony (III) potassium tartarate (tartar emetic) in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis
View on timelineUpendranath Brahmachari, an Indian professor and scientist, synthesizes the pentavalent antimony compound urea stibamine as an effective chemotherapeutic agent against Indian kala-azar. For this discovery he is nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1929.
View on timelineThe Sergent brothers Edouard (1876–1969) and Etienne (1878–1948) demonstrate experimental proof of transmission to humans by sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus. Mosquito bites were already suspected of being the cause of oriental sore in the 16th century by Arabian physicians in the Middle East.
View on timelineAragão discovers Lutzomyia as the genus involved in sandfly transmission of Old World leishmaniasis after which the vectors in the New World are also assumed to belong to the genus Phlebotomus.
View on timelineSir Upendranath Brahmachari first reports human cases of non-ulcerative nodular skin lesions which he terms “dermal leishmanoid”, a dermatological manifestation usually occurring months to years after resolution of visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani. In 1927, Action and Naier term this condition “post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis”.
View on timelineMontenegro develops an intradermal leishmanin skin test, or “Montenegro test”, by experimental inoculation of L. braziliensis. This delayed hypersensitivity test is useful in epidemiological studies.
View on timelineNoguchi, Adler and Theodor introduce the Noguchi-Adler test as a serological test to differentiate strains of Leishmania. The test is based on the species-specific determinants, which are on Leishmania recognized by polyclonal immune sera. This method is used to distinguish between the Mediterranean form of L. major and L. tropica.
View on timelinePenna provides the first record of visceral leishmaniasis in the Amazon.
View on timelineHans Schmidt, in Germany, synthesizes sodium antimony gluconate under the name “solustibosan”, a pentavalent antimonial, in which gluconic acid replaces tartaric acid. Stable in solution and less toxic than the previous form, sodium stibogluconate and the closely related meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime) introduced by Rhone-Poulenc in 1946 remain the standard treatment for all forms of leishmaniasis. The pentavent antimonials were only available as injection until today. They are now included in WHO’s List of Essential Medicines.
View on timelineSaul Adler (1895–1966) continues the search for a vector and the actual mode of infection through the bite of the sandfly when volunteers are exposed to Phlebotomus papatasi infected with leishmanial flagellates. The volunteers finally develop individual leishmanial lesions.
View on timelineHenry Edward Shortt (1887–1987), a Colonel in the Indian Army Medical Service, demonstrates transmission of kala-azar by Phlebotomus argentipes
View on timelineJacinto Convit, a Venezuelan physician, and his colleague Lapenta describe a condition referred to as diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis, the causative agent of which in Venezuela was later named Leishmania pifanoi.
View on timelineBiagi names the causative agent of “Chicleros ulcer” in Belize, Guatemala and Yucatán as Leishmania tropica mexicana. In French Guyana, Floch adopts the same trinomial nomenclature in 1954 by referring to the cause of “pian-bois” as L. tropica guyanensis. Similarly, in other parts of South America, he attributes cutaneous leishmaniasis to L. tropica braziliensis. However, in 1959, Medina and Romero, as well as other researchers, give the name to the parasite associated with 81 cases of diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis in (what is now) the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
View on timelineLainson and Strangways-Dixon establish that forest rodents are the reservoir host of the leishmanial parasite, and show visible lesions on their tails. A volunteer is successfully infected with the rodent parasite, representing the first conclusive association of a neotropical leishmanial parasite known to infect man with a sylvatic reservoir in wild animals.
View on timelineBiochemical tests are introduced to differentiate strains of Leishmania. This technique is useful for epidemiological studies in humans and, from the 1980s, is recommended also to designate reference strains and to protect them in cryobanks. Recently, polymerase chain reaction methods have improved their diagnostic sensitivity, allowing identification of the parasite DNA. Today, molecular genetics are used to elucidate the evolution of Leishmania. Besides the Noguchi-Adler test, other techniques emerge for differentiating strains of Leishmania.
View on timelineWHO publishes the first report of the WHO Expert Commitee on control of the leishmaniases.
View on timelineA simpler direct agglutination test is introduced in the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. This semi-quantitative test uses microtitre plates in which increasing dilutions of a patient’s serum or blood are mixed with killed L. donovani promastigotes. Agglutination is visible after 18 hours with the naked eye. The test is extensively validated in most endemic areas. Indirect fluorescent antibody techniques and the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay are introduced, improving diagnostic accuracy but are poorly adapted for field settings.
View on timelineWHO publishes the second report of the WHO Expert Committee on control of the leishmaniases.
View on timelineUntil the 1990s, the classical confirmatory test was used for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitological test confirmed by microscopy or culture of blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes or spleen. However, splenic aspiration can be complicated and requires strict precautions, training and technical expertise. Thus, the high risk associated with splenic aspiration motivates the development of non-invasive serological tests such as the direct agglutination test and the lateral flow immunochromatographic test, commonly referred to as rapid diagnostic tests.
View on timelineThe first form of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) is introduced into the market by Vestar under the brand name AmBisome. In 1997, the United States Food and Drug Administration approves its use for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
View on timelineWHO categorizes the Leishmania species intro three subgenera: Leishmania, Sauroleishmania, and Viannia.
View on timelineDr Philippe Desjeux publishes a document presenting for the first time data, as countries profiles, on the epidemiology and control of the leishmaniases.
View on timelineWHO establishes a global surveillance network of 28 institutions, named Leishnet, to document the extent of HIV–Leishmania coinfection and monitor trends. Subsequently, the network expands to all endemic areas and includes Africa, South America and Asia.
View on timelineWHO publishes the report of a consultative meeting on coinfection with Leishmania and HIV. The main objectives of the meeting were: to evaluate the real extent of the problem and identify the main populations at risk; to issue guidelines for diagnosis and treatment; to set up a network of institutions that can promote systematic detection of both infections and improve the management and follow up of coinfected patients; to set up a central registry at WHO headquarters to centralize, analyse and periodically disseminate basic epidemiological information on Leishmania–HIV coinfection; and, finally, to secure the recognition of visceral leishmaniasis as an AIDS-defining disease.
View on timelineIn the 1990s, a second serological test that does not require a laboratory is developed for field use. This technique is based on immunochromatographic detection by dip-stick of a cloned recombinant rK39 antigen.
View on timelineWHO publishes an epidemiological analysis of 692 retrospective cases of coinfection with Leishmania and HIV in the Weekly Epidemiological Record.
View on timelineDesjeux and colleagues publish Leishmania/HIV co-infection in south-western Europe 1990–1998: retrospective analysis of 965 cases.
View on timelineMiltefosine is introduced as the first oral treatment against leishmaniasis. The Weekly Epidemiological Record dedicates a paragraph to miltefosine.
View on timelineThe Americas publishes the report of the leishmaniasis surveillance in 18 countries in the region for the year 2017
MoreWHO publishes the situation of leishmaniasis in the WHO European Region, 2016 and a Global leishmaniasis surveillance update, 1998–2016, in the Weekly...
MoreThe WHO Leishmaniasis Programme in collaboration with the WHO country office for Ethiopia organizes a bi-regional consultation on the status of...
MoreThe WHO Region of the Americas publishes an updated annual report on the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in the Americas. The 6th report contains data...
MoreWHO publishes the situation of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Afghanistan in the Weekly Epidemiological Record
MoreWHO publishes a report describing the epidemiological and clinical features of visceral leishmaniasis cases that presented to Somalia’s three...
MoreWHO publishes a report with updated global epidemiological information on visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis to 2015, based on the main indicators...
MoreThe WHO Region of the Americas publishes its Plan of action to strengthen the surveillance and control of leishmaniasis in the Americas 2017–2022
MoreThe Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kenya releases national guidelines for health workers on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of visceral...
MoreThe WHO European Region publishes a manual on case management and surveillance of the leishmaniases
MoreThe WHO Leishmaniasis Programme in collaboration with the WHO country office for Kenya organizes a bi-regional consultation on the status of...
MoreBangladesh moves closer to eliminating kala-azar as a public health problem as the national programme reports an all time low of 151 new cases of...
MoreIn collaboration with the Catalan Open University, WHO launches the first edition of an online course on neglected tropical diseases of the skin.
MoreWHO publishes the fourth global report on neglected tropical diseases: Integrating neglected tropical diseases into global health and development.
MoreWHO and Gilead extend their collaboration against visceral leishmaniasis until 2021.
MoreAs part of a WHO-led effort to update the empirical evidence base for the leishmaniases, national control programmes in 25 countries where the burden...
MoreThe Health Minister for the State of India launches the Accelerated plan for kala-azar elimination 2017 to fast track efforts towards elimination.
MoreWHO publishes Leishmaniasis in high-burden countries: epidemiological update based on data reported in 2014
MoreWHO publishes the third global report on neglected tropical diseases: Investing to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases.
MoreWHO organizes a bi-regional consultation in Ethiopia to deliberate control strategies and epidemiological situation of visceral leishmaniasis in East...
MoreWHO dedicates the theme for World Health Day as vector-borne diseases, highlighting their severity and increasing threat with the slogan “Small bite,...
MoreWHO organizes an interregional network meeting in Morocco on control of cutaneous leishmaniasis in countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean and...
MoreIndia makes a paradigm shift from long-term (28 days) treatment of kala-azar to short-term (single day) single-dose treatment with liposomal...
MoreWHO publishes a manual recommending a standardized approach for case management of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region....
MoreAt the initiative of the WHO Innovative and Intensified Disease Management unit and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the WHO...
MoreWHO publishes a five-year strategic framework for action for the period 2014–2018 to control cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Eastern Mediterranean...
MoreThe health ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Thailand and the Regional Director of the WHO South-East Asia Region sign a memorandum of...
MoreWHO provides high-quality training courses on leishmaniasis and makes available a 12-week interactive online course on cutaneous leishmaniasis in...
MoreThe Health Minister of India launches the National roadmap for kala-azar elimination in India.
MoreThe Ministry of Health and Population of the Government of Nepal publishes a national strategic guideline for elimination of kala-azar in Nepal.
MoreWHO, in partnership with InBios International, the Pasteur Institute of Tunis in Tunisia, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the United...
MoreThe WHO European Region publishes a strategic framework for control of leishmaniasis in the region during 2014–2020.
MoreWHO updates the number of reported cases of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis by country and year. From 2012, this information is available from...
MoreWHO publishes the second global report on neglected tropical diseases: Sustaining the drive to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical...
MoreThe Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly adopts resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases.
MoreWHO/PAHO publish recommendations for treatment of leishmaniasis in the Americas (in Spanish).
MoreThe WHO Western Pacific Region publishes a regional action plan on neglected tropical diseases with clearly defined activities for the control of...
MoreThe Ministry of Health of the Republic of Ethiopia releases its national guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of leishmaniasis.
MoreWHO publishes the atlas of post- kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis for use as a manual to guide better and earlier recognition of the disease by health...
MoreNepal achieves the threshold for eliminating visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) as a public health problem in all its known endemic districts....
MoreWHO publishes the Regional strategic framework for elimination of kala-azar from the South-East Asia Region, 2011–2015.
MoreWHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases approves the Roadmap for eradication, elimination and intensified control...
MoreAs part of an effort led by WHO to update the empirical evidence base for the leishmaniases, national experts provide data on...
MoreInspired by the WHO Roadmap, a community of partners comprising heads of global health organizations, donors, politicians and pharmaceutical industry...
MoreThe Ministry of Health of the Federal Goverment of Somalia releases national guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of visceral...
MoreWHO signs an agreement with Gilead Sciences for donated injectable liposomal amphotericin B to treat cases of visceral leishmaniasis in the most...
MoreThe Ministry of Health of South Sudan releases national guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of visceral leishmaniasis.
MoreWHO/TDR publishes a report on the performance of visceral leishmaniasis antibody detecting rapid diagnostic tests from the results of commercially...
MoreWHO and Sanofi extend their partnership to include a financial contribution of US$ 19 million over 5 years to support control programmes for Buruli...
MoreWHO’s Director-General launches the first global WHO report on neglected tropical diseases to demonstrate the progress achieved since 2007 with the...
MoreThe Report of the WHO Expert Committee on Control of the Leishmaniases (WHO Technical Report Series No. 949) states that parasitological diagnosis...
MoreWHO publishes recommendations on single-dose AmBisome (10mg/kg) as the preferred first-line treatment for visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian...
MoreWHO publishes the report of the third meeting of the WHO Expert Commitee on control of the leishmaniases.
MoreExperts meet in Geneva to discuss the application to list liposomal amphotericin B for the treatment of visceral leishmaniais in the WHO Model List of...
MoreWHO/TDR publish a user guide with general information on rapid diagnostic tests for visceral leishmaniasis.
MoreWHO updates the epidemiological features of Leishmania–HIV coinfection in the publication The relationship between leishmaniasis and AIDS: the second...
MoreWHO publishes the Global plan to combat neglected tropical diseases, 2008–2015.
MoreThe Sixtieth World Health Assembly adopts the first ever resolution on control of leishmaniasis (WHA60.13) in recognition of the huge impact of the...
MoreWHO convenes its first global partner's meeting on neglected tropical diseases in Geneva, marking a turning point that results in increased commitment...
MoreWHO signs a new partnership agreement with Sanofi-Aventis for the period 2006–2011. As part of this first five-year agreement, Sanofi-Aventis agrees...
MoreA phase III trial in India leads to the first registration of paromomycin for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Paromomycin (formerly known as...
MoreThe health ministers of Bangladesh, India and Nepal sign a memorandum of understanding to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis from the Indian...
MoreThe WHO Director-General establishes the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2005 after renewed efforts and encouraging results...
MoreThe first international workshop on intensified control of neglected tropical diseases is held in Berlin, Germany to explore the idea of packaging the...
MoreMiltefosine is introduced as the first oral treatment against leishmaniasis. The Weekly Epidemiological Record dedicates a paragraph to miltefosine.
MoreDesjeux and colleagues publish Leishmania/HIV co-infection in south-western Europe 1990–1998: retrospective analysis of 965 cases.
MoreWHO publishes an epidemiological analysis of 692 retrospective cases of coinfection with Leishmania and HIV in the Weekly Epidemiological Record.
MoreIn the 1990s, a second serological test that does not require a laboratory is developed for field use. This technique is based on...
MoreWHO publishes the report of a consultative meeting on coinfection with Leishmania and HIV. The main objectives of the meeting were: to evaluate the...
MoreWHO establishes a global surveillance network of 28 institutions, named Leishnet, to document the extent of HIV–Leishmania coinfection and monitor...
MoreDr Philippe Desjeux publishes a document presenting for the first time data, as countries profiles, on the epidemiology and control of the...
MoreWHO categorizes the Leishmania species intro three subgenera: Leishmania, Sauroleishmania, and Viannia.
MoreThe first form of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) is introduced into the market by Vestar under the brand name AmBisome. In 1997, the United States...
MoreUntil the 1990s, the classical confirmatory test was used for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitological test confirmed by microscopy or...
MoreWHO publishes the second report of the WHO Expert Committee on control of the leishmaniases.
MoreA simpler direct agglutination test is introduced in the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. This semi-quantitative test uses microtitre plates in...
MoreWHO publishes the first report of the WHO Expert Commitee on control of the leishmaniases.
MoreBiochemical tests are introduced to differentiate strains of Leishmania. This technique is useful for epidemiological studies in humans and, from the...
MoreLainson and Strangways-Dixon establish that forest rodents are the reservoir host of the leishmanial parasite, and show visible lesions on their...
MoreBiagi names the causative agent of “Chicleros ulcer” in Belize, Guatemala and Yucatán as Leishmania tropica mexicana. In French Guyana, Floch adopts...
MoreJacinto Convit, a Venezuelan physician, and his colleague Lapenta describe a condition referred to as diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis, the causative...
MoreHenry Edward Shortt (1887–1987), a Colonel in the Indian Army Medical Service, demonstrates transmission of kala-azar by Phlebotomus argentipes
MoreSaul Adler (1895–1966) continues the search for a vector and the actual mode of infection through the bite of the sandfly when volunteers are exposed...
MoreHans Schmidt, in Germany, synthesizes sodium antimony gluconate under the name “solustibosan”, a pentavalent antimonial, in which gluconic acid...
MorePenna provides the first record of visceral leishmaniasis in the Amazon.
MoreNoguchi, Adler and Theodor introduce the Noguchi-Adler test as a serological test to differentiate strains of Leishmania. The test is based on the...
MoreMontenegro develops an intradermal leishmanin skin test, or “Montenegro test”, by experimental inoculation of L. braziliensis. This delayed...
MoreSir Upendranath Brahmachari first reports human cases of non-ulcerative nodular skin lesions which he terms “dermal leishmanoid”, a dermatological...
MoreAragão discovers Lutzomyia as the genus involved in sandfly transmission of Old World leishmaniasis after which the vectors in the New World are also...
MoreThe Sergent brothers Edouard (1876–1969) and Etienne (1878–1948) demonstrate experimental proof of transmission to humans by sandflies of the genus...
MoreUpendranath Brahmachari, an Indian professor and scientist, synthesizes the pentavalent antimony compound urea stibamine as an effective...
MoreG. Di Cristina and G. Caronia, demonstrate efficacy of antimony (III) potassium tartarate (tartar emetic) in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis
MoreDifferentiation of parasites causing “dry urban” and “wet rural” cutaneous leishmaniasis
MoreMigone reports the first documented case, which was from Paraguay. The history of viceral leishmaniais in South America is relatively short and...
MoreGaspar Vianna (1885–1914), a Brazilian clinician and scientist, introduces the use of tartar emetic (trivalent antimony) as treatment for cutaneous...
MoreWenyon demonstrates incrimination of Phlebotomus as the probable vector of diseases caused by Leishmania in the Old World.
MoreGaspar Vianna, a young physician in Rio de Janeiro, claims that the parasites in South America differ from those in Africa and India and creates a new...
MoreSplendore demonstrates the presence of the parasite in mucocutaneous lesions of espundia, a mucosal leishmaniasis
MoreAdolpho Lindenberg first detects various skin lesions of humans in Latin America as due to species of Leishmania by showing Leishman–Donovan bodies...
MoreCharles Jules Henry Nicolle, a French bacteriologist, describes species causing visceral leishmaniasis in children in Tunisia suffering from splenic...
MoreCathoire and Laveran describe visceral leishmaniasis in children with infantile splenic anaemia as a different form of the disease that attacks only...
MoreRonald Ross (1857–1932) investigates the causative parasite of kala-azar in Calcutta and realizes that the parasite discovered by Donovan is the same...
MoreCharles Donovan (1863–1951), serving in the Indian Medical Service but unaware of Leishman’s discovery, independently confirms what are known as...
MoreWilliam Leishman (1865–1926), a doctor in the Scottish army, publishes his identification of the parasite in the spleen of an English private who had...
MoreJames Homer Wright (1969–1928), chief of pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, comes across an Armenian girl suffering from “Delhi sore” from...
MorePeter Fokich Borovsky (1863–1932), a physician in the Russian army, fully describes for the first time the causative organism of Old World...
MoreThe focal nature of the infection was noted in the 19th century by Rogers who introduced the practice of destroying villages and resiting them. The...
MoreDavid Douglas Cunningham (1843–1914) makes the first drawings of Leishmania amastigotes isolated from lesions of “Delhi boil” in India. As a Professor...
MoreRondani and Berte establish the genus of the sandflies Phlebotomus.
MoreKala-azar is first noticed in an outbreak in Jessore in India (now Bangladesh) of a fever characterized by relapses and progressive emaciation that...
MoreScopoli describes the first member of the Diptera group of sandflies as papatasi.
MoreAlexander Russell (1715–1768) provides the first description in English of a lesion resembling cutaneous leishmaniasis as the “Aleppo evil” after...
MoreBonanni, in Rome, Italy, gives the first recognizable description of a sandfly as a species of Culex, or mosquito.
MoreThe earliest description of leishmaniasis in the Old World presents the disease as “Nile Pimple” in Pharaoh’s Papyrology.
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CloseThe leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by protozoan parasites from >20 Leishmania species that are transmitted to humans by the bite of infected female phlebotomine sandflies (98 of which are of medical importance).There are 4 main forms of the disease: visceral leishmaniasis (VL, also known as kala-azar); post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL); cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL); and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL). While cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common form of the disease, visceral leishmaniasis is the most serious and can be fatal if untreated. Additionally, leishmaniasis can be classified as anthroponotic or zoonotic depending on whether the natural reservoir of the parasite is human or animal.
This timeline traces the history of the disease, starting with the first description of the disease, and all the epidemiological history, as well as that of case management, control of the disease, and WHO's involvement and its ongoing battle against the disease.