Report: Silent Flesh Eating Parasite Making Its Way Through Syria

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Public health crises have persisted in Syria since the devastating civil war broke out in the country two years ago.

Foreign Policy on Wednesday reported on the latest health issue in the country: a silent, flesh eating parasite plaguing Syrian refugee camps.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis, also known as the “Aleppo evil” or the “Aleppo boil,” is carried by sand flies and causes painful lesions that can become secondarily infected, often resulting in disfigurement. Another form of leishmaniasis — visceral — affects the spleen and liver, and it is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world after malaria. Mercifully, it is only the nonlethal parasite that is coursing through the Syrian countryside, where years of fighting has made seeking medical treatment extraordinarily difficult. Still, the parasite leaves its victims scarred for life.

The World Health Organization, according to FP,  is monitoring the disease and said that 1,047 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were reported between April 14 and May 18 of this year. The cases are hard to monitor because of the frequent movement of Syrians within the country and to neighboring countries, but the parasite has been spotted more frequently in Syria’s Tartus governorate, where the disease was previously unreported. Thousands of cases have also been reported in bordering countries over the last year. 

 

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