Leishmaniases in Brazil: A Historical Approach

 This chapter addresses the leishmaniases in Brazil. The first cases of cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis were described in 1909 in São Paulo. Latin American researchers gained international prominence because of their work on this disease they considered autochthonous, which came to be known as American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis. Visceral Leishmaniasis only emerged as a public health problem in Brazil in 1934 thanks to a new diagnostic technique for yellow fever. Zoonoses earned greater attention in the laboratory founded in 1965 at the Evandro Chagas Institute by Ralph Lainson and Jeffrey Shaw. I examine their connections with other research groups and the resulting changes in the perception of the New World Leishmaniases when they showed that parasite, vector, and host populations were much more heterogeneous than previously imagined. Technical innovations provided a better understanding of the distinct epidemiological characteristics of the illnesses caused by different Leishmania amid a backdrop of far-reaching transnational networks.