Looks like I got my first exotic parasitic disease. ….or not?

A few days ago, I felt a strong itch on my ankle and scratched it hard until it started bleeding. I thought this was just another of those annoying mosquito bites. But the wound, about the size of a finger nail, didn’t show any sign of healing since then. Yesterday I had a closer look at it and it seems to resemble the symptoms of one of those tropical diseases not uncommon here in Central America: leishmaniasis. It is being contracted by the bite of certain species of sand fly that injects protozoan parasites (Leishmania) into the wound. The main symptoms of the resulting disease, Leishmaniasis are skin lesions at the location of the bite. I am concerned because I have been bitten by plenty of sand flies over the past month, especially around my ankles.

Obviously I need to know, Leishmaniasis or not.

I put my trust in the collective wisdom of my faithful blog readership and let you decide about it. Here is a photo of a confirmed leishmaniasis case (left) and in comparison a photo of my wound (right). For further reading I suggest the Wikipedia article on the topic. And google image search has a lot more photographic material.

Please, inspect those photos, educate yourself about leishmaniasis, consult an expert, do something!

Leishmaniasis

My wound

And vote responsibly, please. My life lies in your hands…

Do I have leishmaniasis?

• I don’t think so… (63%, 5 Votes)
• Maybe (38%, 3 Votes)
• Definitely! (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 8

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Update: Thanks for voting and saving my life, everyone. Your collected wisdom turned out to be correct.