Physician Helps Veterans Returning from Middle East
Sand flies may be small, but they pack quite a punch. Bites from these insects, about the size of fleas and gnats, can carry a host of nasty diseases. Recently, these pests have found a new target—US soldiers.
One disease carried by sand flies is leishmaniasis. Known as el mohtafura, “the digger,” in Arabic, it is a plague long suffered by those living in the desert.
Katherine Murray-Leisure, MD, an infectious disease and travel specialist in central Pennsylvania, has studied the disease for more than a decade. She and other health care providers, government entomologists, and insect specialists are working to prevent this scourge in overseas personnel.
Leishmaniasis can cause skin and nose ulcers, fevers, sweats, swollen glands, enlarged liver and spleen, digestive tract problems, sore bones and joints, and chronic fatigue.
Dr. Murray-Leisure first studied Gulf War veterans while working at the Lebanon VA Medical Center. There, she started the Persian Gulf Clinic. They studied the health problems of Gulf War veterans and enrolled over 600 of them in a national registry.
“They were most appreciative that people were listening to their problems. We pulled them out of psychiatry wards, where their findings could not be explained. We explored the medical causes of their illnesses, for which they were grateful,” Dr. Murray-Leisure said.
She has continued to see veterans in her private practice. Soldiers returning from Iraq also suffer from leishmaniasis, but these strains may be easier to treat than those from the Gulf War.
“Leishmania strains coming in from Iraq may be more drug sensitive, but they are still a big problem to returning patriots and people working in the Middle East,” Dr. Murray-Leisure said.
“We advise all military personnel and travelers to the Middle East and Afghanistan to cover themselves from head to ankles when in the villages and rural areas outside of the cities. Wear hats, scarves, veils, lace, sandfly nets, or robes like the Bedouins when out in the desert, so you won’t get bitten by sandflies and get sick,” she added.
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Last Updated: 10/7/2008