Plasmodium simium

Plasmodium simium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Alveolata
Phylum: Apicomplexa
Class: Aconoidasida
Order: Haemospororida
Family: Plasmodiidae
Genus: Plasmodium
Species:
P. simium
Binomial name
Plasmodium simium
Fonseca, 1951

Plasmodium simium is a species of apicomplexan parasite that primarily infects New World Monkeys. It was first observed in a howler monkey captured in São Paulo, Brazil. The species is restricted to the Atlantic Forest region in southeastern Brazil, where it is transmitted by the mosquito Anopheles (kerteszia) cruzii, which is the principal vector of both P. simium and Plasmodium vivax. Although long regarded as a monkey-specific parasite, P. simium is now recognized as a zoonotic malaria parasite.

In humans

Molecular investigations showed that an outbreak of locally acquired malaria cases in Rio de Janeiro in 2015 and 2016 were caused by P. simium rather than P. vivax, confirming transmission from non-human primates to humans. More recent evidence suggests that many malaria cases historically attributed to P. vivax in Brazil's Atlantic Forest were likely caused by P. simium, indicating that zoonotic transmission has likely been underestimated.

References

  1. ↑ Da Fonseca, F. (1951). "[Plasmodium of a primate of Brazil]". Memorias Do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. 49: 543–553. doi:10.1590/s0074-02761951000100008. ISSN 0074-0276. PMID 14890537.
  2. ↑ Grigg, Matthew J.; Snounou, Georges (2017-10-01). "Plasmodium simium: a Brazilian focus of anthropozoonotic vivax malaria?". The Lancet Global Health. 5 (10): e961–e962. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30343-1. ISSN 2214-109X. PMID 28867402.
  3. ↑ Voges, Kamila; Dias, Guilherme de Rezende; Dupim, Eduardo Guimarães; Pitaluga, André Nóbrega; Vanderlinde, Thyago; Carvalho Pinto, Carlos José de; Rezende, Helder Ricas; Uno, Fabiana; Forrester, Sarah Jayne; Chong, James; Carvalho, A. Bernardo; Rona, Luísa D. P. (2026-02-25). "Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii, the main malaria vector in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, is a complex of at least five cryptic species". Communications Biology. 9 (1): 482. doi:10.1038/s42003-026-09700-0. ISSN 2399-3642.
  4. ↑ Brasil, Patrícia; Zalis, Mariano Gustavo; Pina-Costa, Anielle de; Siqueira, Andre Machado; Júnior, Cesare Bianco; Silva, Sidnei; Areas, André Luiz Lisboa; Pelajo-Machado, Marcelo; Alvarenga, Denise Anete Madureira de; Santelli, Ana Carolina Faria da Silva; Albuquerque, Hermano Gomes; Cravo, Pedro; Abreu, Filipe Vieira Santos de; Peterka, Cassio Leonel; Zanini, Graziela Maria (2017-10-01). "Outbreak of human malaria caused by Plasmodium simium in the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro: a molecular epidemiological investigation". The Lancet Global Health. 5 (10): e1038–e1046. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30333-9. ISSN 2214-109X. PMID 28867401.
  5. ↑ de Albuquerque, Nathalia Rammé M.; Ladeia, Winni A.; Scalsky, Ryan J.; Dwivedi, Ankit; Stabler, Thomas C.; Rodrigues, Priscila T.; de Oliveira, Thaís C.; Silva, Joana C.; Ferreira, Marcelo U. (2025). "Plasmodium simium: birth and evolution of a zoonotic malaria parasite species". Parasitology. 152 (8): 848–859. doi:10.1017/S0031182025100310. ISSN 1469-8161. PMC 12644964. PMID 40665206.