Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

Detecting Enzootic Leishmaniasis And American Trypanosomiasis In Stray Dogs In El Paso County, Texas And The Potential For Autochthonous Transmission To Humans, Evan James Kipp

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cutaneous leishmaniasis and Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) are two vector-borne, protozoal zoonoses whose emergence into the southern United States is a public health problem of increasing significance. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by several species of intracellular protozoa in the genus Leishmania and is most often characterized by the formation of large, ulcerative skin lesions that can result in considerable scarring and permanent disfigurement. Infection with Leishmania is prevalent throughout the world in tropical and sub-tropical regions and in areas where people are regularly exposed to the hematophagous sand fly vectors that transmit the disease. Chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, the …