The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate over $68.2 million to fight tropical diseases in the Third World.

The money will come in four grants, aimed at fighting hookworm, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Six children in northern Kenya have died in the past month from an outbreak of Kala-azar disease, also called visceral leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by the female sandfly that is fatal if left untreated, medical officials said.

Fifty-two children were admitted at Wajir district hospital, which is located 310 miles miles northeast of Nairobi. Of those, 39 tested positive for the disease. Regional medical officer Ahmeddin Omar in Wajir said all the cases are from the neighboring and remote district of Isiolo

Scientists hope to create a new vaccine for a tropical disease responsible for the deaths of about 60,000 people every year.

Leishmaniasis, or black fever, attacks the spleen, bone marrow and liver and destroys the immune system. If untreated, it is almost always fatal