kala-azar

[kah-lah-ah-zahr, kah-luh-az-er]

noun

Pathology.

1. a chronic, usually fatal disease occurring in tropical areas of Asia and the Western Hemisphere, characterized by irregular fever, enlargement of the spleen, anemia, and emaciation, caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani.

kala-azar

/ ˌkɑːləəˈzɑː /

noun

1. a tropical infectious disease caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani in the liver, spleen, etc, characterized by fever and weight loss; visceral leishmaniasis

Word History and Origins

Origin of kala-azar¹

1880–85; < Hindi, equivalent to kālā black + Persian āzār disease

Word History and Origins

Origin of kala-azar¹

from Assamese kālā black + āzār disease

Example Sentences

It is more than 100 years3 since drugs based on the chemical element antimony4 were first used to treat visceral leishmaniasis, also known as black fever or kala-azar.

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In just over a decade, the group has earned approval for six treatments, tackling sleeping sickness, malaria, Chagas' disease and a form of leishmaniasis called kala-azar.

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This woman’s rash is symptomatic of kala-azar, a parasitic disease spread by sandfly bites in the tropics.

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Southern Sudan has reported recurrent outbreaks of visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease also known as kala-azar, with some 6,363 cases and 303 deaths recorded in the past year, the WHO said last week.

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Conventional treatments for the condition, also known as kala-azar, take much longer and have a greater risk of side effects.

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