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Plasmodium silvaticum

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Plasmodium silvaticum
Scientific classification Edit this 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

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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

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This species is found in Borneo.

Vectors

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Vectors are Anopheles balabacensis, Anopheles maculatus and Anopheles sundaicus.

Clinical features and host pathology

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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

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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