A disfiguring tropical disease previously confined to areas held by Daesh (ISIS) in Syria has now spread throughout the Middle East, The Daily Mail and others reported.
The disease, known as cutaneous leishmaniasis, spreads via bites from sand flies and leads to scarring-many times on the face. It’s often undiagnosed and untreated, The Daily Mail further notes.
According to an article by PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, a journal which studies such ailments, the disease has been endemic in Syria for over two hundred years. Now, the journal notes, it has spread with the Syrian refugee crisis as millions flee the war-torn country. The disease is now in Turkey and Lebanon as well.
Arabic media has also picked up on the disease’s spread. Masreiat.com claimed the disease is furhter being spread by the dumping of dead bodies, as did The Daily Mail and others.
--AL
