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    Interesting new publication: The prevalence of simian malaria in wild long-tailed macaques throughout Peninsular Malaysia

    VCWG
    15 March 2024

    Interesting new publication: The prevalence of simian malaria in wild long-tailed macaques throughout Peninsular Malaysia

    Very interesting findings on the prevalence of five simian species of Plasmodium in Macaques in Malaysia…here is the Abstract: Apart from P. knowlesi, the long-tailed macaque is also able to harbour Plasmodium cynomolgi, Plasmodium inui, Plasmodium caotneyi and Plasmodium fieldi. Here we report the prevalence of the 5 simian malaria parasites in the wild long-tailed macaque population in 12 out of the 13 states in Peninsular Malaysia using a nested PCR approach targeting the 18s ribosomal RNA (18s rRNA) gene. It was found that all five Plasmodium species were widely distributed throughout Peninsular Malaysia except for states with major cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Of note, Pahang reported a malaria prevalence of 100% in the long-tailed macaque population, identifying it as a potential hotspot for zoonotic transmission. Overall, this study shows the distribution of the 5 simian malaria parasite species throughout Peninsular Malaysia, the data of which could be used to guide future malaria control interventions to target zoonotic malaria.

    Find the article at: Shahari S, Bin Abdullah ML, Binti Isman Rohimly AA, Binti Ashrat N, Amir A, Atroosh WM, Fong MY, Lau YL. The prevalence of simian malaria in wild long-tailed macaques throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Scientific Reports. 2024 Mar 12;14(1):6023.