Note on the history of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean and Middle East area

Abstract

There exist records of what seems to be cutaneous leishmaniasis at least as far back as 650 BC, and possibly much earlier in the Tigris/Euphrates basin. It was described by Avicenna in the 10th century AD, and was well-known in Aleppo and Baghdad by the 18th century AD. Cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum may have occurred in Crete in the 18th century. Artificial transmission was effected in Algeria and Aleppo in the 18th century.