A new focus of visceral leishmaniasis in the Himalayas, India.

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), commonly known as kala-azar in Indian subcontinent is a major public health problem and >90% of cases are from India, Bangladesh, southern Sudan, Nepal and north-east Brazil. VL affects more than 1,00,000 persons every year in India and occurs epidemically and endemically in well-defined areas in the eastern parts of the country, mainly Bihar, West Bengal, the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and the foothills of Sikkim 1 . Despite its widespread geographic distribution, leishmaniasis in humans is often focal within an endemic area, leading to ‘hotspots’ of disease transmission 2 .