Abstract
Blood infection by the simian parasite, Plasmodium simium, was identified in captive (n = 45, 4.4%) and in wild Alouatta clamitans monkeys (n = 20, 35%) from the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil. A single malaria infection was symptomatic and the monkey presented clinical and haematological alterations. A high frequency of Plasmodium vivax-specific antibodies was detected among these monkeys, with 87% of the monkeys testing positive against P. vivax antigens. These findings highlight the possibility of malaria as a zoonosis in the remaining Atlantic Forest and its impact on the epidemiology of the disease.
Highlights
Plasmodium infections caused by Plasmodium brasilianum or Plasmodium simium have been identified in New World monkeys
P. simium was first identified by da Fonseca (1951) in a monkey from the state of São Paulo (SP), Brazil and was described to naturally infect only three species: Alouatta caraya, Alouatta clamitans and Brachytelles arachnoides (Deane et al 1966, 1968)
We describe the prevalence of Plasmodium infection and levels of antibodies against P. vivax antigens among wild and captive monkeys from Atlantic Forest in the South Region of Brazil [municipality of Indaial, state of Santa Catarina (SC)]
Summary
Plasmodium infections caused by Plasmodium brasilianum or Plasmodium simium have been identified in New World monkeys. P. brasilianum naturally infects several species of monkeys from a large area in Latin America and seems to be identical to Plasmodium malariae, a human malaria parasite (Coatney 1971, Cochrane et al 1985, Leclerc et al 2004). P. simium, restricted to the Atlantic Forest regions, is indistinguishable from the human parasite Plasmodium vivax (Collins et al 1969, Deane 1988).
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