One of the most neglected of the infectious diseases of poverty, visceral leishmaniasis (kala azar), will be the subject of a new research project in Ethiopia.

The project, entitled “Studies on the ecology and transmission dynamics of visceral leishmaniasis in Ethiopia”, will seek to determine the drivers of transmission of the disease, of which there an estimated 500,000 cases worldwide annually. The worst affected region in Africa is southern Sudan and northwest Ethiopia.

The research will be carried out by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, supported by a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For further information see press release.