Here’s What You Need To Know
Officials in Lebanon and Turkey have confirmed that a painful disease is being spread across the Middle East by Syrian refugees. Leishmaniasis, which is caused by parasites in the bites of sandflies, comes in three forms: cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral. Each has varying symptoms and levels of severity, but all result in painful, skin-decaying ulcers that have led some to brand it a “flesh-eating” disease. Complicating matters is the fact that symptoms don’t immediately appear after a bite; sometimes it can take days or even weeks for patients to develop nodules that eventually start eating away at their skin.
Dr. Jane Orient, one of the senior directors at the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), warns that Syrian refugees are spreading the disease to countries that aren’t prepared to deal with it. This includes the U.S. and several locations in the Middle East where leishmaniasis rates are rising with the influx of poverty-stricken people without access to proper medical care. Prior to 2008, Lebanon had no recorded cases of leishmaniasis at all; by 2012, those rates had skyrocketed, and 96.6 percent of sufferers were Syrian refugees. A study of leishmaniasis patients in Turkey found that 69 percent were Syrian refugees.
Officials have yet to give word about if and how the spread of this disease will affect foreign policy. In the meantime, doctors overseas continue to work on the prevention and treatment of leishmaniasis, and they stress that education is often the biggest factor in stopping its rampage.
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