Kala-azar outbreak in Sudan’s South Kordofan

People in Abu Karshola locality, South Kordofan, complain about the spread of kala-azar*. A resident of the locality told Radio Dabanga that the people sought assistance from the South Kordofan state and federal health ministries three months ago to contain the disease. “Until now, there was no response.” He said that the disease became epidemic, after “the spread of sandflies all over the locality during the start of the rainy season”. The commissioner of Abu Karshola locality, Gareig Kambal, told reporters on Wednesday that more than 1,000 people are infected. He said that he informed the Federal Ministry of Health about the outbreak in June.* Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as “black fever”, is a parasitic disease, killing nearly all of those infected. It is caused by the bite of sandflies. If blood containing leishmania parasites is drawn from an animal or human, the next person to receive a bite will then become infected and develop leishmaniasis. Months after this initial infection the disease can progress into the more severe form of kala-azar. File photo: The  sandfly is small enough to get through the tiny holes of a standard mosquito net (timesofmalta.com)