A major genetic risk factor for visceral leishmaniasis, also known as black fever, has been identified, paving the way for vaccine research.
Scientists identified variation in a specific region of the major immune response locus, known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), as the single most important genetic risk factor for the disease.
Vaccine researchers are using the results to study how the immune system interacts with the disease in mice.
Leishmaniasis is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world after malaria with an estimated 1.5 million new cases each year worldwide.
Read more at The University of Western Australia