Sabah tops monkey malaria cases
Published on: Saturday, August 18, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has recorded the highest incidence of monkey malaria in the world according to a study by a research team from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). The paper based on a five-year research on the primary vector (Anopheles balabacensis) of the monkey malaria (caused by Plasmodium knowlesi) also found that most of the cases were in the interior. The paper titled "Mitochondrial variation in subpopulations of Anopheles balabacensis Baisas in Sabah, Malaysia (Diptera: Culicidae)" was authored by Prof Dr Chua Tock Hing and co-authored by Benny Manin (a doctorate student in UMS) and Prof Chris Drakely from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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Chua said a survey conducted in Kudat and Kota Marudu showed that 9.8 per cent of the collected blood samples were positive for Plasmodium knowlesi with most of the infected individuals not having a history of fever. "There are strong linkages between landscape change, disease ecology and human health which help to explain the emergence of the monkey malaria," he said in a statement, Friday. "These anthropogenic changes to the landscape in Sabah are influencing the dynamics between mosquito vectors, macaques, and humans. "Other results also suggest that Plasmodium knowlesi is adapting to the changes in the distribution and vectorial capacity of its vectors in Malaysian Borneo.
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"This mosquito feeds on both macaque monkeys as well as humans, preferring to bite humans outdoors and during the early evening. "It is the dominant Anopheles species found in Kudat Division where it is responsible for all the cases of Plasmodium knowlesi."
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However, he said, there is limited basic biological and ecological information on this vector. Chua and his team sequenced 71 Anopheles balabacensis individuals collected from 14 sites of seven districts in Sabah, constituting 14 subpopulations. "The cox1, cox2 genes of the mitochondria were sequenced and analysed to investigate the genetic relationship between the specimens from the various sites. "A total of 17 and 10 haplotypes (a haplotype is a group of genes within an organism that is inherited together from a single parent) were detected in the subpopulations using the cox1, cox2 sequences respectively." He added, some of the haplotypes were common among the subpopulations resulting from high gene flow occurring between them, and the variation detected between subpopulations was not due to the geographical distance between them. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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