A disfiguring disease that had been under control in Syria prior to the country's Civil War is raging back, and spreading across the region as it follows the millions of refugees fleeing the gore and chaos.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by bites from infected sand flies.  It causes severe scarring, particularly on the face.

But the Civil War in Syria and the ongoing war in Iraq had caused a health emergency.  Both countries' public health systems have been ravaged, but the public health situation in areas controlled by Islamic State (IS) is even worse.  With no viable medical facilities and a chronic lack of clean water, the situation has created a breeding ground for sand flies the carry the disease.

IS may also have been using the disease as a biological weapon.  The Kurdish Red Crescent alleges IS spread the disease by dumping rotting corpses on the streets. 

In better times, the disease had been confined to areas around Aleppo and Damascus.  But millions of Syrians are displaced because of the war, and they've taken the disease with them to refugee camps in neighboring countries, and possibly beyond.

"It's a very bad situation," declared Dr. Waleed Al-Salem of the Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases.  "The disease has spread dramatically in Syria, but also into countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and even into southern Europe with refugees coming in," he said.