mSphere (Apr 2018)

Malaria in Farmed Ungulates: an Exciting New System for Comparative Parasitology

  • Susan L. Perkins

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00161-18
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 2

Abstract

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ABSTRACT A wide array of vertebrates can serve as the intermediate hosts to malaria parasites (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida), such as birds, lizards, and several groups of mammals, including primates, bats, rodents, and ungulates. The latter group of hosts has not been intensively studied since early descriptions of a small set of taxa were published, but new reports of these parasites in both expected and new hosts have recently been published. A new paper reports the presence of Plasmodium odocoilei in farmed white-tailed deer in Florida, particularly in animals less than 1 year old, and provides evidence that the parasites may contribute to mortality in fawns. That paper opens new opportunities to study the malaria parasite-mammal interface in North America.

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