Kala Azar in South Asia : Current Status and Sustainable Challenges

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), (also known as black fever or Kala-azar) is a life-threatening disease first reported from the Indian subcontinent. VL ranks as the world’s second largest parasitic disease killer and is a neglected tropical disease. Most of those infected by this life-threatening disease are uneducated daily wagers working to support their families, and vectors easily disseminate the disease to their neighbors. Owing to recent involvement of stakeholders, the number of patients is decreasing, but eradication remains a distant goal.

This second edition presents latest reports of visceral Leishmaniasis by specialists working at the forefront of the endemic areas in Indian subcontinent. It also introduces vaccine development and inhibitors to Trypanosomatidae; some of them describing feasibility studies in visceral Leishmaniasis for the first time.

Recent progress of the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) is also reviewed and the contents share this collaborative research from the forefront of endemic sites in Bangladesh.

Widely covering basic, clinical, epidemiological and entomological aspects, this volume will be of great interest to dedicated researchers interested inLeishmaniasis and to experts of NTDs in global health.

 

There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of disease control is bound in shallows and in miseries.

~modified from Shakespeare ~

Eisei NOIRI, M.D., Ph.D. is the JICA Chief Advisor of Japanese ODA project named SATREPS and the JST primary investigator of SATREPS. The project is the first and largest NTDs mission targeting to Indian subcontinent, especially to Bangladesh. The research at the frontier of endemic area is conducted from the experiences on the life science basic scientific research including molecular biology, genetics, and physiology. In addition, epidemiological surveillance and urine combined GIS analysis are highly esteemed because of the capabilities to elucidate exact foci at the endemic area.