This paper reports a case of imported visceral leishmaniasis (VL; also known as kala-azar) in a nonendemic area (Wuhan). The patient was a 63-year-old male who had recurrent fever for more than 5 months and failed to respond to multiple treatments for hemophagocytic syndrome (HLH). No pathogen was detected by traditional bone marrow aspiration smear microscopy. Finally, 12347 standardized sequence count of Leishmania species complex were detected in peripheral blood via metagenomic...

Read the full paper: Extracellular Vesicle-Derived Spliced Leader RNA as a Minimally Invasive Molecular Biomarker for Leishmaniasis Detection

A key aspect of controlling canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is the availability of accurate diagnostic tools capable of reaching most of the population. In endemic areas with socially vulnerable populations, facilitating rapid CVL diagnosis by reducing sampling difficulties and diagnostic costs could provide substantial benefits. This study evaluated the performance of the Kalazar Detect™ Canine Rapid Test for CVL diagnosis using blood, serum, and saliva samples, and compared the results...

Publication date: Available online 28 October 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Younis Ibrahim Mohammed Ali Al-Joary, Zeena Zakaria Idrees Al-Mashhadany, Muneef Abid Mustafa Al-Hamadany, Zainab Mohammad Abd Alrazaq Ali Altai, Mustafa Ali Adel Ali Moslawi, Manal Younis Mahdi Hasan Al Hasan, Watban Mohammed Ali Haso Almiemari

Publication date: Available online 28 October 2026 Source: Acta Tropica Author(s): Younis Ibrahim Mohammed Ali Al-Joary, Zeena Zakaria Idrees Al-Mashhadany, Muneef Abid Mustafa Al-Hamadany, Zainab Mohammad Abd Alrazaq Ali Altai, Mustafa Ali Adel Ali Moslawi, Manal Younis Mahdi Hasan Al Hasan, Watban Mohammed Ali Haso Almiemari

Background: American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is endemic in central Panama, where rapid land use change is transforming tropical landscapes and potentially altering the ecology of sand fly vectors. Although researchers have widely studied environmental determinants of individual vector species, community-level responses of sand fly assemblages to landscape modification remain poorly understood. We evaluated how landscape composition, fragmentation, climate, and topography influence sand fly community structure in a rural landscape of central Panama. Methodology/Principal Findings: We combined metacommunity analyses with joint species distribution models (JSDMs) to quantify species-specific and community-level responses to climatic variables, land-cover composition, and forest configuration. We collected 1,692 individuals representing 30 species, including nine anthropportunist taxa of epidemiological importance. Sand fly assemblages had strong nestedness, low species turnover, and predominantly positive residual associations. Several anthropportunist sand fly species occurred across heterogeneous landscapes, although their responses to environmental conditions differed among taxa. Land-cover composition, forest fragmentation metrics, and elevation together explained about half of the variance in species occurrence and abundance, with the remainder attributed to climate and spatial, temporal, and community-level random effects. Grassland cover contributed most strongly to sand fly occurrence and abundance, whereas artificial surfaces consistently reduced both metrics. Fragmentation effects varied by species: edge density often increased occurrence and abundance, whereas more forest patches generally suppressed populations. Increased precipitation broadly enhanced occurrence and abundance, whereas higher temperatures negatively affected several taxa. Conclusions/significance: Landscape heterogeneity predictably structures sand fly communities, and different forms of anthropogenic disturbance exert non-uniform effects on vector assemblages. The nested organization of these assemblages and the co-occurrence of several anthropophilic species suggest that multiple potential vector species may be present across heterogeneous landscapes. These findings highlight the need for landscape-informed surveillance and control strategies that prioritize grassland-forest interfaces and other disturbed ecotones where sand fly species of epidemiological importance frequently co-occur.

Background: American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is endemic in central Panama, where rapid land use change is transforming tropical landscapes and potentially altering the ecology of sand fly vectors. Although researchers have widely studied environmental determinants of individual vector species, community-level responses of sand fly assemblages to landscape modification remain poorly understood. We evaluated how landscape composition, fragmentation, climate, and topography influence sand fly community structure in a rural landscape of central Panama. Methodology/Principal Findings: We combined metacommunity analyses with joint species distribution models (JSDMs) to quantify species-specific and community-level responses to climatic variables, land-cover composition, and forest configuration. We collected 1,692 individuals representing 30 species, including nine anthropportunist taxa of epidemiological importance. Sand fly assemblages had strong nestedness, low species turnover, and predominantly positive residual associations. Several anthropportunist sand fly species occurred across heterogeneous landscapes, although their responses to environmental conditions differed among taxa. Land-cover composition, forest fragmentation metrics, and elevation together explained about half of the variance in species occurrence and abundance, with the remainder attributed to climate and spatial, temporal, and community-level random effects. Grassland cover contributed most strongly to sand fly occurrence and abundance, whereas artificial surfaces consistently reduced both metrics. Fragmentation effects varied by species: edge density often increased occurrence and abundance, whereas more forest patches generally suppressed populations. Increased precipitation broadly enhanced occurrence and abundance, whereas higher temperatures negatively affected several taxa. Conclusions/significance: Landscape heterogeneity predictably structures sand fly communities, and different forms of anthropogenic disturbance exert non-uniform effects on vector assemblages. The nested organization of these assemblages and the co-occurrence of several anthropophilic species suggest that multiple potential vector species may be present across heterogeneous landscapes. These findings highlight the need for landscape-informed surveillance and control strategies that prioritize grassland-forest interfaces and other disturbed ecotones where sand fly species of epidemiological importance frequently co-occur.

Leishmania infantum is a causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis and survives as an obligate intracellular parasite within macrophages by modulating host cell death pathways. While preservation of host cell viability is critical for parasite replication, infected macrophages ultimately undergo cell death, although the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated the nature of L. infantum-induced cell death in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Using long-term live-cell...

Leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania parasites, which undergo cellular adaptation when transitioning from the insect stage (promastigote) to the mammalian stage (amastigote). While the ubiquitin-prot...

Leishmaniasis remains one of the most important neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), affecting millions of individuals across tropical and subtropical regions. Caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania and transmitted by infected female phlebotomine sandflies, the disease manifests in a spectrum of clinical forms ranging from localized cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral infections. Despite substantial progress in disease control programmes, leishmaniasis continues to pose significant...