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Balkan nephropathy (or Balkan endemic nephropathy) is a form of interstitial nephritis. Its cause is currently unknown. It was first identified in the 1920s among several small, discrete communities along the River Danube and major tributaries of that river, in the modern countries of Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The most striking feature of the disease is its very localised nature. There are approximately ten small areas where it occurs, all of them more or less rural, but nothing seems to connect those areas other than the occurrence of this illness. A genetic factor was once thought to be a likely cause, but while this has not been finally ruled out, it has not been confirmed by repeated tests over the years. The causes of the illness are one of the most enduring mysteries of modern medical science.
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