Deadly tropical disease spread by sand flies now found in US

health

by mark laranilla

Doctors are sounding the alarm over a deadly tropical disease sweeping the United States. The disease was once so rare that most doctors had never seen a case of it.

But now leishmaniasis, a potentially deadly parasitic disease spread by tiny sand flies, is endemic in the United States. Previously it was only seen in people who traveled to tropical countries.

“If you ask most doctors, ‘Is there leishmaniasis in the United States?’ they’ll say, ‘No way,’ or ‘What?’ ”Dr. Gideon Wasserbergprofessor of disease ecology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; told CNN.

Stable flies are much smaller than mosquitoes and small enough to slip through most window screens, so they spread the parasite that causes leishmaniasis by biting people and animals.

“Sometimes you don’t even know you’ve been bitten,” says Dr. Mary Kamb, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At this week’s annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Professor Kambu presented evidence that leishmaniasis is being found in people with no history of international travel, and that the disease is now common in the United States. It has been proven that it has become a part of daily life.

Experts say a warming climate is likely to cause sandflies to continue expanding their range and spread diseases such as leishmaniasis further north.

So far, the only case of leishmaniasis in the United States has been reported from Texas, likely because other states do not require doctors to report the disease to public health officials, but the stable fly is now as far north as New Jersey, Delaware, and Ohio.

Other diseases once confined to the tropics are now moving northward into the United States. For example, malaria may be endemic in areas such as Florida and Texas.

Dr. Pedro Cecilio of the National Institutes of Health said: “If average temperatures rise in the northern states (as expected), stable flies will become established there, and then the parasite alone will spread the infection.” Stated.

What is leishmaniasis?

There are two main types of leishmaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis affects the skin, and visceral leishmaniasis affects internal organs, causing up to 20,000 deaths annually.

After being bitten by an infected sand fly, people who develop symptoms (though not everyone does) develop skin sores, bumps, and lumps that eventually develop into ulcers with raised edges and a crater in the center. It might be.

If detected early, leishmaniasis can usually be treated with antiparasitic drugs. Dermatitis usually clears up on its own without treatment. However, this can take months or even years, and the sores can leave ugly scars. According to the CDC.

People with visceral leishmaniasis usually have a fever, weight loss, swelling of the spleen or liver, and abnormal blood tests. Without treatment, severe cases of visceral leishmaniasis usually lead to death.

dogs transmit leishmaniasis

One unusual means of spreading visceral leishmaniasis is man’s best friend. An estimated 1 million dogs are imported into the United States, and these dogs can be a means of spreading disease to other animals and humans.

There is no vaccine for humans against leishmaniasis, but a vaccine for dogs is available in Europe and Brazil.

“It started trickling down little by little.” [infected] “Dogs are being imported into the United States from countries where visceral leishmaniasis is endemic,” said Christine Petersen, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa. told Live Science.

There have been reports of dogs carrying visceral leishmaniasis being imported into the United States and Canada in the past, and it is known that some breeds can transmit the parasite to puppies during pregnancy. There is.

The CDC advises people in areas where sandflies are present to avoid outdoor activities, especially from dusk until dawn, when sandflies are most active.

Also, minimize skin exposure and apply insect repellent containing the chemical DEET to exposed skin, the edges of sleeves and under the hems of pants.