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Review
. 2019 Sep 2:2019:9282690.
doi: 10.1155/2019/9282690. eCollection 2019.

Visceral Leishmaniasis in West Africa: Clinical Characteristics, Vectors, and Reservoirs

Abdoulaye K Kone  1 , Doumbo Safiatou Niaré  1 , Martine Piarroux  2 , Arezki Izri  3 , Pierre Marty  4   5 , Matthew B Laurens  6 , Renaud Piarroux  2 , Mahamadou A Thera  1 , Ogobara K Doumbo  1
Affiliations
Review

Visceral Leishmaniasis in West Africa: Clinical Characteristics, Vectors, and Reservoirs

Abdoulaye K Kone et al. J Parasitol Res. .

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most serious form of human leishmaniasis. VL is understudied in West Africa. The increasing number of patients at-risk, including persons living with HIV and other chronic immunosuppressive diseases, and likely underreporting of VL related to diagnostic challenges advocate for review of existing data to understand VL regional epidemiology. Our review aims to describe the clinical characteristics and epidemiology of Human VL (HVL) in West Africa. We conducted a literature search to identify peer-reviewed articles and grey literature sources using the search terms "Visceral leishmaniasis West Africa", "Leishmania donovani West Africa"; and "Leishmania infantum West Africa". Thirty published articles report HVL from seven countries, including The Gambia, Niger, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Guinea Bissau. Three countries report cases of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL), including The Gambia, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. Niger, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast report the greatest number of HVL cases. As VL is present in West Africa, active surveillance, increased diagnostic capacity, and studies of vectors and reservoirs are essential to better understand VL epidemiology in the region.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geographic distribution of CVL and HVL in West Africa 1949-2018 (made with Philcarto, http://philcarto.free.fr/index.html).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Status of visceral leishmaniasis worldwide 2016 [13].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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