List of Plasmodium species infecting primates

[6] This report described a case of malaria in a three-year-old black girl from Georgia, United States, who had never been outside the US.

She suffered from both P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria and while forms similar to those described for P. tenue were found in her blood even the author was skeptical about the validity of the diagnosis.

Taxonomy in parasitology until the advent of DNA based methods has always been a problem and revisions in this area are continuing.

A possible report of P. falciparum in a greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) has not been confirmed in a large survey.

[11] A species that clusters with P. falciparum and P. reichenowi has been identified in Gabon, Africa in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

[19] The existence of multiple independent reports seem to suggest that the chimpanzee and possibly other species may act as a host to P. malaria at least occasionally.

Infection tends to be low grade but may be persistent and remain as source of parasites for humans for some time.

[13] It has been suggested that vivax infection of the great apes in Africa may act as a reservoir given the prevalence of Duffy antigen negative humans in this area.

P. ovale has an unusual distribution pattern being found in Africa, Myanmar the Philippines and New Guinea.

In spite of its admittedly poor transmission to chimpanzees given its discontigous spread, it is suspected that P. ovale may in fact be a zoonosis with an as yet unidentified host.

A report has been published suggesting that P. ovale may be a natural parasite of chimpanzees[22] but this needs confirmation.

Plasmodium knowlesi has a natural reservoir in the macaques of Southeast Asia, and was only in 1965 identified as being transmissible to humans.

This grouping, while originally made on morphological grounds, now has considerable support at the DNA level.

New World monkeys of the family Cebidae: P. brasilianum and P. simium Old World monkeys of the family Cercopithecidae: P. coatneyi, P. cynomolgi, P. fieldi, P. fragile, P.gonderi, P. georgesi, P. inui, P. knowlesi, P. petersi, P. shortti and P. simiovale Gibbons of the family Hylobatidae: P. eylesi, P. hylobati, P. jefferyi and P. youngi Orangutans (Pongo): P. pitheci and P. silvaticum Gorillas and chimpanzees: P. billcollini, P. billbrayii, P. falciparum, P. gabonensi, P. gora, P. gorb, P. reichenowi, P. rodhaini and P. schwetzi This listing may be incomplete as the taxonomy of this genus is under revision.