[leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Iraq

[desjeuxp at who.int]

This report on leishmaniasis in Iraq is full of mistakes and confusing.
There is no real outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis but accumulated non
treated cases. The transmission season is from May to October with a major
risk of transmission in September/October and, due to the incubation time,
cases are mainly detected from November to April. Due to the pre-war
situation and the lack of drugs during this period, accumulated cases of
last year transmission are seen now. UNICEF and WHO have recently sent a
large quantity of drugs. 

L major and L.tropica are at the origin of zoonotic and anthroponotic
cutaneous leishmaniasis specially in central and Northern but CERTAINLY not
at the origin of leishmaniasis visceral in Iraq. 

Regards

P. Desjeux

	_______________________________
		 Dr Philippe Desjeux
		     Medical Officer
	Department of Communicable Disease
	        Surveillance and Response
		      (CDS/CSR)
World Health Organization 		Direct Tel. (+41 22) 791 38 70
20, Avenue Appia		 	Operator    (+41 22) 791 21 11
CH-1211 Geneva 27		Fax:          (+41 22) 791 48 78 
Switzerland			Email.        <desjeuxp at who.int>


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred R. Opperdoes [mailto:opperdoes at trop.ucl.ac.be]
Sent: Sunday, 1 June 2003 08:13
To: leish-l at fat.org.br
Subject: [leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Iraq


At 22:46 -0400 5/31/03, ProMED Digest wrote:
>Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 20:08:31 -0400 (EDT)
>From: ProMED-mail <promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu>
>Subject: PRO/EDR> Leishmaniasis - Iraq: RFI
>
>LEISHMANIASIS - IRAQ: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
>**********************
>A ProMED-mail post
><http://www.promedmail.org
>ProMED-mail, a program of the
>International Society for Infectious Diseases
><http://www.isid.org>
>
>
>Date: Fri, 31 May 2003
>From: Pablo Nart <p.nart at vet.gla.ac.uk>
>Source: NDTV Thu 29 May 2003
><http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Usiraqconfrontation&slu
g=%3CI%3EKalaAzar%3C%2FI%3E+outbreak+in+Iraq%3A+UNICEF&id=38619&callid=1>
>
>
>Outbreak of Kala-Azar (visceral leishmaniasis) in Iraq
>- --------------------------------------------------
>UNICEF has announced an outbreak of Kala-Azar (Visceral Leishmaniasis) in
>Iraq. Though there have been outbreaks of the disease in Iraq in the past
>around this time of year, it is particularly severe this time.
>
>There are now more than 200 cases of Kala-Azar reported in Iraq. The
>country does see regular outbreaks of the disease.
>UNICEF has warned that this time the outbreak could be severe.
>
>Kala-Azar is spread mainly by sand flies and causes malnutrition and
>anaemia. When left untreated, the disease is fatal within 4 to 6 weeks.
>
>[Byline: Kamini Sawhney (Baghdad)]
>
>- --
>ProMED-mail
><promed at promedmail.org>
>
>[Leishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq and is caused by _L. major_ and _L.
>tropica_, which can cause both visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and cutaneous
>leishmaniasis (CL). Leishmaniasis from these 2 species are predominantly
>CL, and an increase in CL will most probably be found if looked for. It is
>possible that malnutrition and other infections may have caused more cases
>to manifest as VL. Leishmania is transmitted from animal reservoirs and
>human hosts by sandflies. There are no annual statistics on VL in Iraq, but
>Gideon (<www.gideononline.com>) reports 8500 cases from 1971 to 1980, with
>the highest prevalence in the central areas and greater Baghdad. Cases have
>not been reported since then, but there is no reason to believe that there
>have been fewer cases. More information on this outbreak would be
>appreciated. - Mods.EP/MPP]
>
>[see also:
>2001
>- ----
>Leishmaniasis, suspected - Iraq      20010917.2245]
>...................mpp/ep/pg/mpp
>
>------------------------------

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