Over the last decade, public authorities from all parts of the world have expressed their growing concern about leishmaniasis being a serious threat to health. This increased awareness occurred partly as a result of serious outbreaks which were reported, such as for instance, the one in Bihar, India and earlier in Kenya. Several health services in South America have indicated increases in both the mucocutaneous and cutaneous disease. It is difficult to say to what extent these observations reflect true increases or perhaps indicate more successful efforts in detecting new patients.