Deadly parasite mimics malaria, quietly claiming lives undetected

Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar), according to the Centres for Disease Control, is caused by infection with Leishmania parasites, which are spread by the bite of infected sandflies. [Courtesy]

What seems like a typical case of malaria — with symptoms such as fever, weight loss, fatigue, and an enlarged spleen — often misleads both patients and medics, delaying accurate diagnosis and treatment..

But hidden beneath this clinical disguise is leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that’s slowly ravaging parts of Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties — largely unnoticed, underfunded, and dangerously underestimated.