Emerging Infectious Diseases (Dec 2010)

Wild Chimpanzees Infected with 5 Plasmodium Species

  • Marco Kaiser,
  • Anna Löwa,
  • Markus Ulrich,
  • Heinz Ellerbrok,
  • Adeelia S. Goffe,
  • Anja Blasse,
  • Zinta Zommers,
  • Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann,
  • Fred Babweteera,
  • Klaus Zuberbühler,
  • Sonja Metzger,
  • Sebastian Geidel,
  • Christophe Boesch,
  • Thomas R. Gillespie,
  • Fabian H. Leendertz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1612.100424
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 12
pp. 1956 – 1959

Abstract

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Data are missing on the diversity of Plasmodium spp. infecting apes that live in their natural habitat, with limited possibility of human-mosquito-ape exchange. We surveyed Plasmodium spp. diversity in wild chimpanzees living in an undisturbed tropical rainforest habitat and found 5 species: P. malariae, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. reichenowi, and P. gaboni.

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