Epidemiology and Control of Leishmaniasis in Central Eurasia ; A new epidemic in association with irrigation of deserts

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A vast area of the Central Eurasia has widely been occupied with deserts. Humans living in this sterile land have continuously struggled against natural forces to obtain water. Irrigation might bring wealth to residents and facilitate to socioeconomical development. However it also tremendously changes ecosystem in the irrigated land, suchi as changes in ecology of humans, animals, insects, and pathogenic microorganisms, resulting in new unfavorable and unexpected endemy of the diseases including leishmaniasis. Today over the areas leishmaniasis is endemic. Leishmaniasis, thus, might be one of the man-made diseases. Since 1994 we have performed epdemiological researches on leishmaniasis in some areas along the Silk Road that crosses over the Central Eurasia including Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, the Central Asian countries, and Turkey. Leishmaniasis is widespread over the Central Eurasia, where different combination of Leishmania species, vector sandflies, and reservoir animals exists. Humans are considered to be mostly accidental hosts, although in some places, e.g.India, the disease is anthroponotic. Hence epidemic features of leishmaniasis varied among areas and therefore control measures should be different. Careful and detail epidemiological investigatrions should be needed in advance to establish effective control measures against this disease.