Abstract
Parasites regularly switch into new host species, representing a disease burden and conservation risk to the hosts. The distribution of these parasites also gives insight into characteristics of ecological networks and genetic mechanisms of host-parasite interactions. Some parasites are shared across many species, whereas others tend to be restricted to hosts from a single species. Understanding the mechanisms producing this distribution of host specificity can enable more effective interventions and potentially identify genetic targets for vaccines or therapies. As ecological connections between human and local animal populations increase, the risk to human and wildlife health from novel parasites also increases. Which of these parasites will fizzle out and which have the potential to become widespread in humans? We consider the case of primate malarias, caused by Plasmodium parasites, to investigate the interacting ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that put human and nonhuman primates at risk for infection. Plasmodium host switching from nonhuman primates to humans led to ancient introductions of the most common malaria-causing agents in humans today, and new parasite switching is a growing threat, especially in Asia and South America. Based on a wild host-Plasmodium occurrence database, we highlight geographic areas of concern and potential areas to target further sampling. We also discuss methodological developments that will facilitate clinical and field-based interventions to improve human and wildlife health based on this eco-evolutionary perspective.
Highlights
Animals host an incredible diversity of parasites, here defined as organisms that live in or on another organism at some cost to the host, including microparasites and macroparasites
We focus on primate malarias because of nonhuman primate (NHP)’ close evolutionary relationship to humans and known parasite sharing with humans that produces disease
Evolutionary, and sampling processes that underlie the host specificity of primate malaria parasites, we collated an occurrence database of published records of the location and species involved in wild primate infections
Summary
Animals host an incredible diversity of parasites, here defined as organisms that live in or on another organism (the host) at some cost to the host, including microparasites (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) and macroparasites (helminths and arthropods). Epidemiology and Global Health | Evolutionary Biology important to animal health and conservation, with parasites having negative fitness consequences for animal hosts and contributing to extinctions (De Castro and Bolker, 2004) Many of these negative outcomes result from cross-species transmissions from domesticated animals, invasive species, or humans (known as anthropozoonoses in the latter case). Human-infecting malaria parasites are part of the genus Plasmodium (Galen et al, 2018; Sharp et al, 2020) These protozoan parasites have an obligate Anopheles mosquito vector stage for sexual reproduction and transmission between hosts. We are only beginning to understand the extent of zoonotic malaria cases, the rate of human-to-h uman transmission, and the ecological and evolutionary factors that underlie the origin and spread of Plasmodium across primate hosts
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