NOTES ON AN ENDEMIC CENTRE OF KALA-AZAR IN THE PROVINCE OF HUPEH, CENTRAL CHINA

While the larger and more important endemic areas of kala-azar are fairly well defined, the actual extent of these areas westwards''and southwards appears to be extremely vague. In a recent article Hoeppli* states "that although kala-azar may exist in West, Central and South China, the important endemic centres so far have all been ~ound north of the Yangtze Valley." The uncertainty of our knowledge of the ex- tent,rbf the fringes of the endemic areas should constitute a challenge to all working in those places to make a determined effort to prove the presence or, if possible, the absence of the disease. In these notes I propose to record experiences gained dunng 1936-37 in the small city of Anlu (old name: Teian-fu) in Hupeh which indicate that in that district the disease occurs with sufficient frequency to constitute an endemic focus of kala-azar in Central China and only a few miles north of the Yangtze Valley. .