Urbanization of visceral leishmaniose in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Nowadays in Brazil old endemic diseases, which had been forgotten, resurge with great impact and, many times, with mortality profiles different from those already known. This is the case of visceral leishmaniasis, a typical rural disease associated with precarious conditions of life. The Belo Horizonte city Minas Gerais State, faces, since 1993, an epidemic of both human and canine visceral leishmaniasis. This work presents the historical reconstruction of the disease and characterizes some demographic aspects of the human cases. Apparently, the disease was introduced in Belo Horizonte from existing focos in neighboring towns. The spatial evolution of the epidemic showed that the canine cases had preceded the human cases confirming the importance of dogs as reservoir of calazar in urban areas. The risk of infection was higher in children under 15 years old. The situation of Belo Horizonte city illustrates very well the process of urbanization of rural diseases occurring in some Brazilian cities.