Editing Leishmania (section)

==History==
Members of an ancient [[genus]] of  ''Leishmania''-like parasites, ''[[Paleoleishmania]]'', have been detected in [[fossilized]] [[sand flies]] dating back to the early [[Cretaceous]] period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=G |year=2008 |title=Lutzomyia adiketis sp. n. (Diptera: Phlebotomidae), a vector of Paleoleishmania neotropicum sp. n. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in Dominican amber |journal=Parasit Vectors |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=2 |doi=10.1186/1756-3305-1-22 |pmc=2491605 |pmid=18627624 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The first written reference to the conspicuous symptoms of [[cutaneous leishmaniasis]] surfaced in the [[Paleotropics]] within [[oriental]] texts dating back to the 7th century BC (allegedly transcribed from sources several hundred years older, between 1500 and 2000 BC<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1128/CMR.15.4.595-612.2002 |pmid=12364371 |pmc=126866 |title=History of Human Parasitology |journal=Clinical Microbiology Reviews |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=595–612 |year=2002 |last1=Cox |first1=F. E. G }}</ref>). Due to its broad and persistent prevalence throughout antiquity as a mysterious disease of diverse symptomatic outcomes, leishmaniasis has been dubbed with various names ranging from "white leprosy" to "[[black fever]]". Some of these names suggest links to negative cultural beliefs or mythology, which still feed into the social stigmatization of leishmaniasis today.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yanik |first1=M. |last2=Gurel |first2=M. S. |last3=Simsek |first3=Z. |last4=Kati |first4=M. |title=The psychological impact of cutaneous leishmaniasis |journal=Clinical and Experimental Dermatology |date=September 2004 |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=464–467 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2230.2004.01605.x |pmid = 15347324|s2cid = 11543741}}</ref>

In India, both cutaneous and [[visceral leishmaniasis]] are caused by ''[[Leishmania donovani]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thakur |first1=Lovlesh |last2=Singh |first2=Kiran K. |last3=Shanker |first3=Vinay |last4=Negi |first4=Ajeet |last5=Jain |first5=Aklank |last6=Matlashewski |first6=Greg |last7=Jain |first7=Manju |date=2018 |title=Atypical leishmaniasis: A global perspective with emphasis on the Indian subcontinent |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=e0006659 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006659 |issn=1935-2735 |pmc=6159859 |pmid=30260957 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thakur |first1=Lovlesh |last2=Singh |first2=Kiran K. |last3=Kushwaha |first3=Hemant R. |last4=Sharma |first4=Sudarshan K. |last5=Shankar |first5=Vinay |last6=Negi |first6=Ajeet |last7=Verma |first7=Ghanshyam |last8=Kumari |first8=Sandhya |last9=Jain |first9=Aklank |last10=Jain |first10=Manju |date=2020 |title=Leishmania donovani Infection with Atypical Cutaneous Manifestations, Himachal Pradesh, India, 2014-2018 |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=26 |issue=8 |pages=1864–1869 |doi=10.3201/eid2608.191761 |issn=1080-6059 |pmc=7392404 |pmid=32687048}}</ref> The first records of cutaneous leishmaniasis in India were from British medical officers in the early 19th century. The disease was by then known as "oriental sore" or "Delhi boil";<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steverding |first=Dietmar |date=2017 |title=The history of leishmaniasis |journal=Parasites & Vectors |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=82 |doi=10.1186/s13071-017-2028-5 |issn=1756-3305 |pmc=5312593 |pmid=28202044 |doi-access=free }}</ref> while the visceral form was variously called "Burdwan [after the city [[Burdwan]]] fever", "''kala azar"'' (black fever), or "Dumdum [<nowiki/>[[Dum Dum|a city]] in West Bengal] fever".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cox |first=Francis E. G. |date=2017 |title=The Golden Age of parasitology-1875-1925: the Scottish contributions |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27628769 |journal=Parasitology |volume=144 |issue=12 |pages=1567–1581 |doi=10.1017/S0031182016001566 |issn=1469-8161 |pmid=27628769|s2cid=30381476 }}</ref>

The causative parasite for the disease was identified in 1901 as a concurrent finding by [[William Boog Leishman]] and [[Charles Donovan]]. They independently visualised microscopic single-celled parasites (later called Leishman-Donovan bodies) living within the cells of infected human organs. The parasitic genus would later be classed as [[trypanosomatid]] [[protozoans]] under the [[phylogenetic]] designation, ''Leishmania donovani''. Several species have since been classified and grouped under two major subgenera i.e. ''Leishmania Viannia'' (generally located in the [[Neotropics]])  or ''Leishmania Leishmania'' (generally located in the [[Paleotropics]], with the major exception of the ''[[Leishmania mexicana|L. mexicana]]'' subgroup).<ref name=":0" />