News Detail

Visiting professor discusses disease affecting troops in Middle East

04/08/2009

And you thought mosquito bites were bad.

 

Leishmaniasis, a disease spread by insects called “sand flies,” has been causing trouble for U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East since the first Gulf War. To give students an idea of what soldiers are experiencing through this and other desert-related diseases, a visiting science professor will offer “Sand Flies and Leishmaniasis: From Health Hazards Faced by Troops to Potential Hazards in North America” this Thursday at Pittsburg State University.

 

Dr. Marcelo Ramalho-Ortigao, assistant professor of entomology at Kansas State University, will discuss the disease and how the Army is dealing with it at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in 305 Heckert Wells Hall. The disease, which causes sores that can erupt weeks or months after a person is bitten, can also cause fever, damage to the spleen and liver, and anemia. It can also spread to the vital organs.

 

With an interest in animal-borne diseases such as leishmaniasis, Professor Ramalho-Ortigao plans to investigate diseases in Southeast Kansas animals while he is in the area. The lecture, which has been organized for Dr. David Gordan’s Medical Entomology class, is free and open to the public.

 

For more information, call Gordon at (620) 235-4735.

 

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