A Nakhon Si Thammarat man has been diagnosed with leishmaniasis disease. A number of animals have tested positive, too, the Provincial Livestock Office said.

Hasadej Rakkhaphan, 45, was diagnosed with the condition after reporting exhaustion for about a month. He was treated at Phromkiri Hospital before being transferred to Prince of Songkhla University Hospital, and is recovering, doctors said.

He lost about 15 per cent of his blood and required a transfusion.

Leishmaniasis is caused by parasites transmitted by the bite of sand flies.

Medical teams went to the victim's village and tested neighbours. No other cases have been discovered.

The Nation

nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30052827

I found it interesting that the CDC site mentions the locations this disease is found. They may need to update their site.

Leishmaniasis is found in some parts of the following areas:

in Mexico, Central America, and South America -- from northern Argentina to Texas (not in Uruguay, Chile, or Canada)

southern Europe (leishmaniasis is not common in travelers to southern Europe)

Asia (not Southeast Asia)

the Middle East

Africa (particularly East and North Africa, with some cases elsewhere)

Leishmaniasis is not found in Australia or Oceania (that is, islands in the Pacific, including Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia).

From http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DPD/parasites/le..._leishmania.htm

It is curious, if it hadn't been for the animals testing positive too I would have wondered if he'd contracted elsewhere, like if he'd just come back from the Middle East.

It’s not a nice thing to happen. A friend’s daughter had it after spending a night camping on a red sea beach about 10 years ago. It took awhile for the Brit doctors to identify it. The poor girl ended up with scars on her forehead and cheek the size of a 1 Baht coin. I think she had another one on her hand as well.

Poor guy... is this the one sometimes refered to as the "flesh-eating disease"?

Pictures look aweful.