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Abstract Leishmaniasis is a group of infectious diseases caused by at least 20 species of protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania in human (Postigo, 2012). The parasites are transmitted by the bite of the female sand fly (Volf and Myskova, 2012). It is prevalent in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It kills thousands and debilitates millions of people each year, with two million new cases reported annually and 350 million people at risk. It is the second cause of mortality after malaria and the fourth cause of morbidity among all tropical parasitic diseases (Bertholet et al., 2011). Leishmaniasis is not one disease but represents several syndromes. These range from self-healing and chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) to mucocutaneous (MCL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) (Palatnik-de-Sousa et al., 2010). Visceral leishmaniasis is the most serious form in which parasites leave the inoculation site and proliferate in liver, spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow, resulting in host immunosuppression and ultimately death in the absence of treatment. Visceral leishmaniasis is manifested by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cachexia, anemia, pancytopenia and hypergammaglobulinemia (Palatnik-de-Sousa, 2008) . In CL, the parasites remain at the site of infection and cause localized long-term ulceration. While in MCL, a chronic destruction of mucosal tissue develops in less than 5% of affected individuals (Khanra et al., 2011). Development of a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine could be a solution for prevention and control of this disease. The importance of developing the vaccine is also due to the continuous spread, morbidity |