title: Simian malaria in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: first description of natural infection of capuchin monkeys (Cebinae subfamily) by Plasmodium simium.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Brazil, two species of Plasmodium have been described infecting non-human primates, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium simium. These species are morphologically, genetically and immunologically indistinguishable from the human Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax parasites, respectively. Plasmodium simium has been observed naturally infecting monkeys of the genera Alouatta and Brachyteles in a restricted area of the Atlantic Forest in the south and southeast regions of Brazil. However, its reported geographical distribution and the diversity of its vertebrate hosts may be underestimated, since available data were largely based on analyses by microscopic examination of peripheral blood, a method with limited sensitivity, considering the potential sub-patent feature of these infections. The present study describes, for the first time, the natural infection of P. simium in capuchin monkeys from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples from 30 non-human primates belonging to nine species kept in the Primate Centre of Rio de Janeiro were collected. Fragments of spleen and liver from one dead monkey found in the neighborhoods of the Primate Centre were also analysed. Molecular diagnosis was performed by nested PCR (18SSU rRNA) and the amplified fragment was sequenced.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty per cent of the captive animals were infected with P. simium and/or P. brasilianum. The dead monkey tested positive for DNA of P. simium. For the first time, Cebinae primates (two specimens of genus Cebus and two of genus Sapajos) were found naturally infected by P. simium. The infection was confirmed by sequencing a small fragment of 18SSU rRNA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results highlight the possibility of infection by P. simium in other species of non-human primates whose impact could be significant for the malaria epidemiology among non-human primates and, if it becomes clear that this P. simium is able to infect monkeys and, eventually, man, also for the maintenance of transmission of human malaria in the context of a zoonosis in areas under influence of the Atlantic Forest.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisa René Rachou (CPqRR), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), MG, Brazil. denise.alvarenga@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Denise Anete Madureira
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: de Alvarenga
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Infectologia (INI), Ambulatório de Doenças Febris Agudas, Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. anielle.pina@hotmail.com.|Centro de Pesquisa, Diagnóstico e Treinamento em Malária (CPD-Mal), Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. anielle.pina@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Anielle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Pina-Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisa René Rachou (CPqRR), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), MG, Brazil. tais@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Taís Nóbrega
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: de Sousa
authors.affiliation: Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro (CPRJ/INEA), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. pissinatticprj@globo.com.|Centro Universitário Serra dos Órgãos (UNIFESO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. pissinatticprj@globo.com.
authors.forename: Alcides
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pissinatti
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Virologia Molecular, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. mzalis@globo.com.
authors.forename: Mariano G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Zalis
authors.affiliation: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. marmutis@ioc.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Martha C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Suaréz-Mutis
authors.affiliation: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC), Laboratório de Transmissores de Hematozoários, Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. lourenco@ioc.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lourenço-de-Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Infectologia (INI), Ambulatório de Doenças Febris Agudas, Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. patricia.brasil@ini.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brasil
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisa, Diagnóstico e Treinamento em Malária (CPD-Mal), Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. malaria@fiocruz.br.|Laboratório de Pesquisa em Malária (IOC), Fiocruz, RJ, Brazil. malaria@fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Cláudio Tadeu
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Daniel-Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisa René Rachou (CPqRR), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), MG, Brazil. cristiana@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Cristiana Ferreira Alves
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: de Brito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016646:Cebinae; D005260:Female; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000502:physiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence