2011/02/24 by Franck Prugnolle, Patrick Durand, Benjamin Ollomo +6 · 1 citation
Medicine · Immunology and Microbiology · #Malaria Research and Control #Bird parasitology and diseases #Vector-borne infectious diseases
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001283
openalex publication_date 2011/02/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
From which host did the most malignant human malaria come: birds, primates, or rodents? When did the transfer occur? Over the last half century, these have been some of the questions up for debate about the origin of Plasmodium falciparum, the most common and deadliest human malaria parasite, which is responsible for at least one million deaths every year. Recent findings bring elements in favor of a transfer from great apes, but are these evidences really solid? What are the grey areas that remain to be clarified? Here, we examine in depth these new elements and discuss how they modify our perception of the origin and evolution of P. falciparum. We also discuss the perspectives these new discoveries open.