title: Monitoring parasite diversity for malaria elimination in sub-Saharan Africa.
abstract: The African continent continues to bear the greatest burden of malaria and the greatest diversity of parasites, mosquito vectors, and human victims. The evolutionary plasticity of malaria parasites and their vectors is a major obstacle to eliminating the disease. Of current concern is the recently reported emergence of resistance to the front-line drug, artemisinin, in South-East Asia in Plasmodium falciparum, which calls for preemptive surveillance of the African parasite population for genetic markers of emerging drug resistance. Here we describe the Plasmodium Diversity Network Africa (PDNA), which has been established across 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to ensure that African scientists are enabled to work together and to play a key role in the global effort for tracking and responding to this public health threat.
authors.affiliation: Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghansah
authors.affiliation: Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Amenga-Etego
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Gambia Unit, Banjul, The Gambia.
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amambua-Ngwa
authors.affiliation: KEMRI/United States Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya, Kisumu, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andagalu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Apinjoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Université des Sciences de la Sante, Libreville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Marielle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouyou-Akotet
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Genomics and Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cornelius
authors.affiliation: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University and Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Lemu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Golassa
authors.affiliation: Malaria Research Unit, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Voahangy Hanitriniaina
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Andrianaranjaka
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Medical Research, Tanga, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Deus
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ishengoma
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Genomics and Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: KEMRI/United States Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya, Kisumu, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kamau
authors.affiliation: Malaria Research and Training Centre (MRTC), Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali. Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Oumou
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Maïga-Ascofaré
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Ecole de Santé Publique/Faculté de Médecine/Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
authors.forename: Dieudonne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mumba
authors.affiliation: Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tindana
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, Ecole de Santé Publique/Faculté de Médecine/Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tshefu-Kitoto
authors.affiliation: Malaria Research Unit, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Milijaona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Randrianarivelojosia
authors.affiliation: Malaria Research and Control Center, National Institute of Public Health, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
authors.forename: Yavo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: William
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Genomics and Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.
authors.forename: Dominic P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Kwiatkowski
authors.affiliation: Malaria Research and Training Centre (MRTC), Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK. adjimde@icermali.org.
authors.forename: Abdoulaye A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Djimde
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D060740:Disease Eradication; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; C031327:artemisinin