These are caused by parasites from more than 20 species of Leishmania being transmitted to a variety of mammals, including humans, by the bites of phlebotomine sandflies.
This improved knowledge of the complex ecology, epidemiology and distribution of each leishmania species has had considerable public health and therapeutic implications for the control of the wide range of symptoms caused by these parasites.
Although the Wellcome Unit closed in 1992, its legacy continues at the Instituto Evandro Chagas, now a hub for visiting scientists researching all aspects of Leishmania and other parasites, from ecology to epidemiology, immunology and the genetics of host responses to infection.
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Stefan Kappe, principal investigator, Seattle BioMed, Seattle, US, @SeattleBioMed Stefan studies how malaria parasites develop in mosquitoes and in the livers of mammals, and works on developing new drugs and vaccines.
This sensitivity means it's good at detecting infection in people with low amounts of parasites in their blood.
Both elites and minorities are parasites: they pay too few taxes and, especially in eastern Europe, Brussels is on their side.
"It's not work, more of a very interesting hobby, and these parasites are rather beautiful little creatures".
If, as morgellons patients believe, the sores are not self-inflicted but caused by fibre-creating parasites, how is this possible?
Together with his collaborators, he described more than 100 species of protozoan parasites in Brazil alone and published more than 150 scientific papers.
Related: Industrial relations: once the cranks' obsession, now the government's business | Tim Lyons The idea that employment is a purely voluntary contract is much loved by the posh boys and parasites who inhabit rightwing thinktanks.
