The global dispersal of visceral leishmaniasis occurred within human history

João Luís Reis-Cunha; Cooper Alastair Grace; Sophia Ahmed; Simon Harnqvist; Cian J. Lynch; Mariana Côrtes Boité; Gabrielle Barcellos; Laurence Lachaud; Patrick Bastien; Harry Munt; Jeremy Charles Mottram; Elisa Cupolillo; Daniel Charlton Jeffares

doi:10.1101/2024.10.30.621037

Evolutionary BiologybioRxivOct 30, 2024

Preprint

The global dispersal of visceral leishmaniasis occurred within human history

João Luís Reis-Cunha iD, Cooper Alastair Grace iD, Sophia Ahmed, Simon Harnqvist iD, Cian J. Lynch iD, Mariana Côrtes Boité iD, Gabrielle Barcellos, Laurence Lachaud iD, Patrick Bastien iD, Harry Munt iD, Jeremy Charles Mottram iD, Elisa Cupolillo iD, Daniel Charlton Jeffares iD

Abstract

The Leishmania donovani species complex (LdSC) causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL), is present in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, and causes 20-40,000 fatalities per year. Previous analyses concluded that dispersal of this species complex occurred 1-10 million years ago. Using updated methods and data, we show that a ten-thousand year old East African population dispersed globally only within the last 2,000 years, consistent with human migration, war and colonisation as driving factors.

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