Plasmodium silvaticum
| Plasmodium silvaticum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Aconoidasida |
| Order: | Haemospororida |
| Family: | Plasmodiidae |
| Genus: | Plasmodium |
| Species: | P. silvaticum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Plasmodium silvaticum Garnham, Rajapaksa, Peters and Killick-Kendrick, 1972
| |
Plasmodium silvaticum is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium subgenus Plasmodium.
Like all Plasmodium species, P. silvaticum has both vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are mammals.
Description[edit]
The parasite was first described by Garnham et al in 1972.[1]
It is a member of the vivax group and closely resembles the other members of this group.
Geographical occurrence[edit]
This species is found in Borneo.
Vectors[edit]
Vectors are Anopheles balabacensis, Anopheles maculatus and Anopheles sundaicus.
Clinical features and host pathology[edit]
The parasite has an approximately 48-hour life cycle and gives rise to a tertian fever. The disease itself appears to be mild with little overt pathology.
Its prevalence varies considerably: Wolfe et al[2] found the highest Plasmodium spp. prevalence to be 93.5% (29/31) in captive animals but 11.6% (5/43) in wild orangutans. Despite the apparent lack of pathology, a study of the population genetics of the alpha 2 haemoglobin suggested that this parasite (or others like it) has had a significant selective effect on the orangutan genome.[3]
It can be transmitted both by blood inoculation and by sporozoite inoculation into splenectomized chimpanzees.
References[edit]
- ^ Garnham PCC, Rajapaksa N, Peters W, Killick-Kendrick R (1972) Malaria parasites of the orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus). Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. 66:287–94
- ^ Wolfe ND, Escalante AA, Karesh WB, Kilbourn A, Spielman A, Lal AA. (1998) Wild primate populations in emerging infectious disease research: the missing link. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 4:14958.
- ^ Steiper ME, Wolfe ND, Karesh WB, Kilbourn AM, Bosi EJ, Ruvolo M. (2005) The population genetics of the alpha-2 globin locus of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) J. Mol. Evol. 60(3):400-408
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