An infection caused by a flesh-eating parasite, which was earlier seen in people who traveled to tropical regions, is now endemic in certain U.S. states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Leishmania parasites, which cause leishmaniasis, can spread by the bite of sandflies and cause disfiguring skin sores. They are typically seen in tropical and subtropical environments.
After conducting a genetic analysis of tissue samples from more than 2,000 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis (the type that causes skin sores) sent to the CDC between 2005 and 2019, researchers have identified a unique, local strain of the parasite in Texas and some southern border states.
The abstract of the study was announced at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on Thursday.
“There have been previous indications of local transmission based on a small number of case reports, but now, for the first time, we have a distinct genetic fingerprint from a relatively large cluster, providing further evidence that leishmaniasis may be well-established in some parts of the United States,” Mary Kamb, a medical epidemiologist from the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria at CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, said in a news release.
“While most of these infections were in people living in Texas, sandflies that can transmit leishmaniasis are found in many parts of the country and especially in the southern United States,” Kamb added.
Of the total cases, 86 had not traveled abroad before the infection. Furthermore, the parasitic strain in the U.S. is slightly different from Leishmania mexicana, the strain typically seen in Mexico and Central America.
“This genetic information adds credence to this idea that leishmaniasis is occurring here in the United States, it’s endemic here in the United States, at least in Texas and maybe southern border states,” Kamb, who co-authored the findings, told CBS News.
Researchers believe warmer…
Read the full article here
