Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene: The study that proved the causative agent of Sri Lankan cutaneous leishmaniasis is Leishmania donovani.

This commentary discusses a landmark study carried out in 2002 in Sri Lanka that demonstrated Sri Lankan cutaneous leishmaniasis is indeed a disease of concern and the causative parasite is the same species that causes visceral leishmaniasis in India and West Africa. This study transformed the landscape of parasitic disease research in Sri Lanka. Finally, nearly 2 decades later, a national control program is now in place to prevent and control the spread of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the country.