Preface

According to the World Health Organization, leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by more than twenty different species of obligate protozoan parasites from the genus *Leishmania* that are transmitted by the bites of infected female sandflies. It is a major global public health problem that has shown an increasing burden over the last decade [1]. It is a disease of poverty, with 350 million people affected by poverty, malnutrition, displacement, and poor housing conditions at major risk of infection in approximately 100 endemic countries in large areas of the tropics, subtropics, and the Mediterranean basin [2]. An estimated 700,000 to 1 million new cases occur each year. *Leishmania* parasites cause two main clinical forms of the disease: visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis is the most severe, systemic form that is usually fatal unless treated [3]. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is usually limited to an ulcer that self-heals, but can also lead to scarring, disfigurement, and stigmatization as disability outcomes [3]. Therapies for leishmaniasis are numerically restricted, which makes the treatment vulnerable to the emergence of pharmacoresistance. Therefore, efforts to develop new efficient therapies for this disease is imperative, demanding the sum of efforts of researchers and students from all over the globe in the incessant search for new knowledge that leads to the elimination of leishmaniasis. This book is a useful resource for health professionals as well as students in fields related to leishmaniases, such as biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, biotechnology, medicine, pharmacology, epidemiology, and treatment, as well as a reference for health professionals.

#### **Leonardo de Azevedo Calderon**

Fiocruz Rondônia, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Medicine Department, Federal University of Rondônia, Porto Velho, Brasil
