Leishmania

Yes it is Leishmania here on John Henry’s epidermis. Two months ago while on the trip to the Buglere people group, I got bitten by what is known as a sand fly, but more resembles a tiny mosquito. It carries with it a bacteria called Leishmaniasis (Lesh-man-AI-a-sis).
It took about two months for me to realize what it really was. It started out looking like a rash, then like little open sores. About 25 of the 30 bites on my arms and back healed up with tiny scars. The other 5 began to open, eventually becoming painful, open ulcers… I know gross.  This one was the most painful... right on the end of my elbow.

The good news is, there are two other types of Leishmaniasis, one affecting the nasal cavity and the other the spleen, and other internal organs, the ladder being viciously deadly but more prominent in the Amazon area of Brazil.

It was first diagnosed in a clinic I went to as an allergy, and then, weeks later as a skin infection. After many drugs and antibiotics, I started searching the internet for the symptoms I had. Then I found it, described exactly as it looked and felt.

I then when to an doctor of infectious diseases who took one look at it and knew exactly what it was. Treatment, however, was a bothersome and lengthy process. It required me to get an AKG test, liver test, kidney test, and a sample of the actual sore for the department of tropical disease research. I had to receive 2 muscular (backside) injections a day for twenty days. I am now on day 18 and they have almost completely healed up, more than 2 months after I was bitten.

They will be my jungle missionary scars. Just part of the job, I guess.