A
chronic malady, occurring in India, Assam, China, the
area formerly known as the Mediterranean
littoral areas, the Medium East, India, Pakistan, China, South and Central America, Asia, Africa caused by Leishmania donovani and transmitted by the
bite of an appropriate
species of
sandfly of the
genus Phlebotomus or Lutzomyia; the organisms
grow and
multiply in macrophages, eventually causing them to
burst and liberate
amastigote parasites which then
invade another macrophages; proliferation of macrophages in the
bone marrow causes
crowding out of
erythroid and myeloid elements, resulting in leukopenia, and anaemia, splenomegaly, and
hepatomegaly which are quality, along with
enlargement of
lymph nodes; fever, fatigue, malaise, and
secondary infections
also occur; various strains of
leishmaniasis donovani occur;
leishmaniasis infantum in Eurasia,
leishmaniasis chagasi in Latin America.
Synonym: Assam fever,
black sickness, Burdwan fever,
cachectic fever, Dumdum fever, kala azar,
tropical splenomegaly.