West Bengal: 65 black fever cases reported from 11 districts

The West Bengal health department said that the state is within the target limit of eliminating the black fever disease and there is no cause for concern

65 cases of Kala Azar or black fever have been reported from 11 districts in West Bengal over the past few weeks, officials of the state health department said.

Black fever, or Kala-azar, or Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a complex disease, caused by the parasite, Leishmania donovani, and is transmitted by sandfly Phlebotomine argentipus. (Representative Image)

“The Union government has set a target to reduce Kala Azar cases to less than one per 10,000 population at block level to eliminate the disease. In West Bengal we are well within the target. There is no outbreak and this is not a cause for concern,” said Siddhartha Niyogi, director of health services in the state.

Kala-azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a complex disease, caused by the parasite, Leishmania donovani, and is transmitted by sandfly Phlebotomine argentipus. In India, Kala Azar cases are mainly reported from 54 districts in four states – Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

In West Bengal it is endemic to 11 districts, including Darjeeling, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Kalimpong.

“The cases were detected during surveillance to bring down the numbers further. Kala Azar has been endemic to these 11 districts for a long time and cases have been reported from these districts in the past too. There has bene no spread or outbreak. It is good that such cases have been reported during surveillance. This will help us to further bring down the number of cases,” said a senior health official.