title: African Plasmodium vivax: distribution and origins.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that the malaria parasite, Plasmodium vivax, is endemic in west and central Africa, a region from which it was previously thought to be almost completely absent due to the very high prevalence of the Duffy negative phenotype in the local human populations. Furthermore, P. vivax, or very closely related parasites, has been identified in both chimpanzees and gorillas from this region. In this review, we discuss the implications of these findings for the current understanding of the origins of P. vivax as a human parasite. With the support of new evidence from mitochondrial genome sequencing, we propose that the evidence is consistent with current, extant P. vivax populations having their origins in Africa.
authors.affiliation: Malaria Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. richard@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Culleton
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D006071:Gorilla gorilla; D006801:Humans; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; C066001:Duffy antigen binding protein, Plasmodium; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface