Background: Visceral leishmaniasis is a zoonosis characterized by chronic evolution of symptoms; it usually appears 2 to 4 months after the initial infection, with multiple cutaneous lesions and systemic involvement, which if left untreated results in death in 90 % of cases. Case presentation: We present a case of 29-year-old white male farmer, with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with imatinib who developed s...