Focus: Leishmaniasis

Abstract

Causative agent and disease burden. Protozoan flagellates of the genus Leishmania are transmitted by the phlebotomine sandfly and cause different clinical forms of leishmaniasis — visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is often fatal if untreated, muco-cutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) is a mutilating disease, diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) is disabling and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) can result in an unaesthetic stigma if multiple lesions occur.