Epidemiology and ecology of leishmaniasis in Latin-America.
Of the diseases caused by protozoal parasites, leishmaniasis is probably second in importance only to malaria. Chemotherapeutic drugs are toxic, expensive and not 100% effective. This, and the absence of any non-living vaccine against the disease, means that control depends on eliminating either reservoirs or insect vectors, or both. Recently, a greatly increased knowledge of the Leishmania species involved, and of their natural hosts, has helped to define the nature and extent of the problem.
D000818:Animals; D004463:Ecology; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology; D007843:Latin America; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000469:parasitology; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000469:parasitology