WASHINGTON, Oct 24, (Agencies): A flesh-eating parasite, once believed to primarily threaten travelers outside the United States, has now been identified in patients who assert that they have not left the country. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have unveiled this unsettling revelation.

The CDC's analysis has revealed that Leishmania mexicana, a tropical parasite known to cause skin sores and potentially result in long-lasting scars, is likely spreading locally within the US through sand flies. These findings were recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and co-authored by Dr. Mary Kamb from the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria.

According to the CDC, leishmaniasis is a skin disease "caused by infections with Leishmania parasites." It has been found in tissue samples of patients who claim to have not traveled internationally.

The characteristic skin sores of leishmaniasis tend to appear several weeks or months after a person is bitten by an infected fly. Notably, a significant portion of the CDC's skin samples were obtained from Texas, with earlier research in 2021 documenting cases in southeast Oklahoma.

One alarming aspect of this parasite is that it can desensitize skin nerves, making the sores relatively painless, although they can lead to disfigurement at the bite site. As Dr. Kamb explained, "Sometimes you don't even notice that you've been bitten."

Moreover, visceral leishmaniasis, a more severe form of the disease not commonly found in the US can affect vital organs like the liver, spleen, and bone marrow, and it can prove fatal. This condition is responsible for between 20,000 and 30,000 cases annually, and the parasite is believed to enter the US through the importation of dogs.

Dr Luiz Oliveira from the National Institutes of Health, a specialist in leishmaniasis transmitted by sand flies, emphasized that this is no longer just a disease associated with travelers. The World Health Organization has even classified it as an "epidemic" in the US and various other nations.

"People could be asymptomatic and not develop anything, but when people are symptomatic, they develop ulcers on their skin, and sometimes it starts like a little tiny volcano with a crater in it," added Dr. Kamb, shedding light on the distressing nature of the disease.