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Plasmodium

Plasmodium

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Overview

Brief Summary

There are more than 150 named species of Plasmodium that infect various species of vertebrates.  Four species are well known as true parasites of humans, utilizing humans almost exclusively as a natural intermediate host in which they cause malaria: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale  and P. malariae.  In recent years it has become apparent that the simian malaria parasite P. knowlesi also regularly infects humans, as well as its natural monkey intermediate hosts. (Centers for Disease Control Parasites and Health website)  Furthermore, it is now apparent that there are likely two distinct Plasmodium species that have both been referred to as P. ovale (Sutherland et al. 2010; Oguike et al. 2011).

Author(s): Shapiro, Leo
Rights holder(s): Shapiro, Leo

Taxonomic Children

Total: 5

Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium knowlesi, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax

References

Cox-Singh, J., Davis T. M. E., Lee K. - S., Shamsul S. S. G., Matusop A., Ratnam S., et al. (2008).  Plasmodium knowlesi Malaria in Humans Is Widely Distributed and Potentially Life Threatening. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 46(2), 165 - 171.
Guerra, C. A., Snow R. W., & Hay S. I. (2006).  Mapping the global extent of malaria in 2005. Trends in Parasitology. 22(8), 353 - 358.
Hay, S. I., Okiro E. A., Gething P. W., Patil A. P., Tatem A. J., Guerra C. A., et al. (2010).  Estimating the Global Clinical Burden of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in 2007. PLoS Medicine. 7(6), e1000290.
Hedrick, P. W. (2011).  Population genetics of malaria resistance in humans. Heredity. 107(4), 283 - 304.
Hill, A. V. S. (2011).  Vaccines against malaria. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 366(1579), 2806 - 2814.
Hulden, L., & Hulden L. (2011).  Activation of the hypnozoite: a part of Plasmodium vivax life cycle and survival. Malaria Journal. 10(1), 90.
Kantele, A., & Jokiranta T. S. (2011).  Review of Cases With the Emerging Fifth Human Malaria Parasite, Plasmodium knowlesi. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 52(11), 1356 - 1362.
Mueller, I., Galinski M. R., Baird K. J., Carlton J. M., Kochar D. K., Alonso P. L., et al. (2009).  Key gaps in the knowledge of Plasmodium vivax, a neglected human malaria parasite. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 9(9), 555 - 566.
Mueller, I., Zimmerman P. A., & Reeder J. C. (2007).  Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale – the ‘bashful’ malaria parasites. Trends in Parasitology. 23(6), 278 - 283.
Oguike, M C., Betson M., Burke M., Nolder D., Stothard R. J., Kleinschmidt I., et al. (2011).  Plasmodium ovale curtisi and Plasmodium ovale wallikeri circulate simultaneously in African communities. International Journal for Parasitology. 41(6), 677 - 683.
Richter, J., Franken G., Mehlhorn H., Labisch A., & Häussinger D. (2010).  What is the evidence for the existence of Plasmodium ovale hypnozoites?. Parasitology Research. 107(6), 1285 - 1290.
Sabbatani, S., Fiorino S., & Manfredi R. (2010).  The emerging of the fifth malaria parasite (Plasmodium knowlesi): a public health concern?. Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 14(3), 299 - 309.
Sattabongkot, J., Tsuboi T., Zollner G. E., Sirichaisinthop J., & Cui L. (2004).  Plasmodium vivax transmission: chances for control?. Trends in Parasitology. 20(4), 192 - 198.
Sutherland, C J.., Tanomsing N., Nolder D., Oguike M., Jennison C., Pukrittayakamee S., et al. (2010).  Two Nonrecombining Sympatric Forms of the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium ovale Occur Globally. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 201(10), 1544 - 1550.