The New Zoonotic Malaria: Plasmodium cynomolgi.

Alexander Bykersma

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed6020046

Abstract

Plasmodium cynomolgi is a simian malaria parasite that has been a central model parasite since it was first described in 1907. Recently it has made the zoonotic jump and started naturally infecting humans. In this paper, the interactions between Plasmodium cynomolgi and humans, the environment and the non-human animal intermediates or definitive host will be discussed, with a particular focus on the clinical implications of infection and approaches to management of this novel zoonotic parasite.

Highlights

Malaria is a haemoparasitic disease caused by the apicomplexan protozoa of the plasmodium species that is transmitted via the infected female Anopheles mosquito
The list of experimentally transmitted simian malaria species that have been known to cause infection in humans via a mosquito vector includes but is not limited to Plasmodium cynomolgi, Plasmodium simium, Plasmodium inui, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium knowlesi [7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. Such interest in potentially zoonotic malaria began following 1960, where two laboratory workers became accidentally infected with Plasmodium cynomolgi via an Anopheles mosquito [14]
Despite the experimental human infections with P. cynomolgi, the first naturally acquired human P. cynomolgi infection occurred at the start of 2011 in a 39-year-old Malay woman from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia [5]

Summary

Introduction

Malaria is a haemoparasitic disease caused by the apicomplexan protozoa of the plasmodium species that is transmitted via the infected female Anopheles mosquito. The list of experimentally transmitted simian malaria species that have been known to cause infection in humans via a mosquito vector includes but is not limited to Plasmodium cynomolgi, Plasmodium simium, Plasmodium inui, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium knowlesi [7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. Such interest in potentially zoonotic malaria began following 1960, where two laboratory workers became accidentally infected with Plasmodium cynomolgi via an Anopheles mosquito [14]. Other generalised malaria risk factors that one can assume impact zoonotic malaria are poor environmental management to decrease Anopheles larval stores, surrounding stagnant water, not sleeping under insecticide treated mosquito nets, and climate of the area [21,22]

Clinical Features and Past Human Infections

Medication Management

Ecological Management

Conclusions