What is Leishmania?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | image = Leishmania donovani 01.png | image_caption = ''L. donovanii'' in [[bone marrow]] cell | name = ''Leishmania'' | regnum = [[Protista]] | phylum = [[Euglenozoa]] | classis = [[Kinetoplastea]] | ordo = [[Trypanosomatida]] | familia = [[Trypanosomatidae]] | genus = '''''Leishmania''''' }} '''Leishmania''' is a [[protist]] organism which causes [[Leishmaniasis]]. It is a [[Trypanosomatid]] parasite in the [[Euglenozoa]] [[phylum]]. It is spread by [[sandflies]] of the genus ''Phlebotomus'' in the Old World, and of the genus ''Lutzomyia'' in the New World. Their primary hosts are [[vertebrates]]; Leishmania commonly infects [[hyrax]]es, [[canids]], [[rodents]], and humans. Leishmania currently affects 12 million people in 98 countries. The parasite was named in 1903 after the Scottish pathologist William Boog Leishman. == Diseases == The parasite causes three kinds of disease. Each type of disease is caused by different species of the parasite. #Skin disease: the ''Oriental sore'' #[[Mucous membrane]] leishmaniasis: can be fatal #Visceral disease of the [[liver]] and [[spleen]], and [[anaemia]]. So-called ''kala-azar'' == Structure == ''Leishmania'' have a [[lipophosphoglycan]] coat on the outside of the cell. This is a trigger for [[toll-like receptor]] 2, a signalling receptor which triggers an [[innate immune response]] in mammals. The parasite can withstand the counter-attack by the immune system. There are treatments, which consist in helping the immune system to respond. [[File:Leishmaniasis life cycle diagram en.svg|thumb|579px|center|Life cycle of ''Leishmania'']] [[Category:Protista]]