ˌkälə.əˈzär noun
Etymology: Hindi kālā-āzār black disease, from Hindi kālā black + Persian āzār disease
: a severe infectious disease chiefly of eastern and southern Asia that is marked by fever, progressive anemia, leukopenia, and enlargement of the spleen and liver and is caused by a flagellate ( Leishmania donovani ) which is transmitted by the bite of sand flies (genus Phlebotomus ) and which proliferates in reticuloendothelial cells — called also visceral leishmaniasis