HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A disease transmitted by sandflies which causes swelling of the liver and spleen and can lead to death if untreated has become more prevalent in war-torn Somalia, researchers found.

Doctors staffing a Medecins Sans Frontieres health clinic in Huddur, south central Bakool, observed that yearly admissions for visceral leishmaniasis jumped sevenfold to 1,002 in 2006 from an average of 140 yearly from 2002 to 2005.

In the latest issue of the journal PLoS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES (www.plosntds.org), they said the figures may just be a fraction of what is actually happening.

"Although the reported number of patients treated gives an underestimate of the real prevalence, the trend in case detection clearly shows a sharp increase during the past 16-month period (Sep 2005-Dec 2006)," the MSF researchers wrote.

The disease is found in 88 countries and 350 million people live in these areas.

Highly adaptable, the culprit parasite, Leishmania donovani, can survive in terrain varying from rainforests in Central and South America to deserts in West Asia.

There are 500,000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis a year and over 90 percent of them occur in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, and Brazil. It is endemic in east African countries.

It causes fever, weight loss, anemia and swelling of the spleen and liver, and death if left untreated.

Like AIDS, it weakens the immune system and the patient is usually killed directly by other opportunistic infections like pneumonia, tuberculosis and dysentery.

Although the researchers did not give firm reasons for the increase in cases in Somalia, they said more research must be done to control the proliferation of sandflies, which breed on waste land and in rubbish.

"Insecticidal application to termite mounds could be a measure of targeted control in the most affected villages."

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