Transmission of kala-azar by sandflies
Transmisión del kala-azar por flebótomos
- Date
- 1942 · confidence high
- Place
- Shillong, Meghalaya, India
- Credited to
- C. S. Swaminath, H. E. Shortt and L. A. P. Anderson
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
They demonstrated for the first time the transmission of Leishmania donovani to human volunteers by the bite of Phlebotomus argentipes, after two decades of failed attempts by the Kala-azar Commission. It closed the disease's cycle and guided its control with insecticides.
The experiment took place at the Pasteur Institute in Shillong with volunteers; it raises ethical questions today.
What it led to
- DDT spraying campaigns against the sandfly
- kala-azar elimination programmes in South Asia