Human Plasmodium knowlesi infection in Ranong province, southwestern border of Thailand

Malaria Journal

Research

Mitsuaki Nishibuchi¹  Varaporn Vuddhakul²  Natthawan Sermwittayawong²  Nongyao Sawangjaroen²  Balbir Singh³ 

[1] Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan;Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Hat Yai, Thailand;Malaria Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Kuching, Malaysia;

关键词: Plasmodium knowlesi;    Thailand;    Myanmar;    Circumsporozoite protein;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-11-36

 received in 2011-09-19, accepted in 2012-02-08,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPlasmodium knowlesi, a simian malaria parasite, has been reported in humans in many Southeast Asian countries. In Thailand, most of the limited numbers of cases reported so far were from areas near neighbouring countries, including Myanmar.MethodsBlood samples collected from 171 Thai and 248 Myanmese patients attending a malaria clinic in Ranong province, Thailand, located near the Myanmar border were investigated for P. knowlesi using nested PCR assays. Positive samples were also investigated by PCR for Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale, and were confirmed by sequencing the gene encoding the circumsporozoite protein (csp).ResultsTwo samples, one obtained from a Thai and the other a Myanmese, were positive for P. knowlesi only. Nucleotide sequences of the csp gene derived from these two patients were identical and phylogenetically indistinguishable from other P. knowlesi sequences derived from monkeys and humans. Both patients worked in Koh Song, located in the Kawthoung district of Myanmar, which borders Thailand.ConclusionThis study indicates that transmission of P. knowlesi is occurring in the Ranong province of Thailand or the Kawthoung district of Myanmar. Further studies are required to assess the incidence of knowlesi malaria and whether macaques in these areas are the source of the infections.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Sermwittayawong et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012