Kenyan government releases new guidelines for treatment, prevention of visceral leishmaniasis

"The Kenyan government has launched guidelines for the treatment and prevention of visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala azar or black fever, in a move government officials say is meant to contain the parasitic disease, which is endemic in the northern region of the country," IRIN reports. "The new guidelines call for, among other things, the use of rapid diagnostic test kits, mobile test centers and the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in areas where the disease is most prevalent," the news service writes, adding, "The treatment has also been reduced from a 30-day single-dose treatment to a 17-day double-dose injection." "'These guidelines will ensure that early diagnosis of kala azar is done so that those infected can get timely and effective treatment,' Shahnaz Sharif, the director of public health, told IRIN," the news service notes (9/27).