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"<p>The parasite that causes malignant malaria in humans has been  detected in gorillas, along with two new species of malaria parasites, according  to a study co-authored by biologist Francisco Ayala of the University of  California, Irvine.</p><br /><p>The study also confirms a recent discovery by Ayala and  colleagues that human malignant malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum,  originated from a closely related parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial  Africa. P. falciparum is responsible for 85 percent of malignant malaria  infections in humans and nearly all deaths from the disease.</p><br /><p>The researchers cautioned that increased contact between  primates and humans &nbsp;&mdash; mostly  because of logging and deforestation &nbsp;&mdash; creates a greater risk of new parasites  being transmitted to humans. It also could further jeopardize endangered ape  populations by spreading diseases to them. Finding P. falciparum in gorillas  also complicates the challenge of eradicating malaria.</p><br /><p>\"Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year toward  ridding humans of malignant malaria. But success may be a Pyrrhic victory,  because we could be re-infected by gorillas &nbsp;&mdash; just as we were originally infected by  chimps a few thousand years ago,\" said Ayala, corresponding author of the study,  which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and  described by ScienceDaily on Jan. 20.</p><br /><p>The researchers analyzed fecal samples from 125 wild  chimpanzees and 84 gorillas in Cameroon and tested blood samples from three  gorillas in Gabon. They identified two new closely related species of malaria  parasites &nbsp;&mdash; Plasmodium GorA and  Plasmodium GorB &nbsp;&mdash; that infect  gorillas. The animals also were found to harbor P. falciparum, previously  thought to only infect humans.</p><br /><p>In August, Ayala and colleagues published a study reporting  that P. falciparum had been transmitted to humans from chimpanzees perhaps as  recently as 5,000 years ago &nbsp;&mdash; and  possibly through a single mosquito. Before then, malaria's origin had been  unclear.</p><br /><p>Chimpanzees were known to carry the parasite Plasmodium  reichenowi, but most scientists assumed the two parasites had existed separately  in humans and chimpanzees for the last 5 million years.</p><br /><p>The discovery could aid the development of a vaccine for  malaria, which each year causes 2 million infant deaths and sickens about 500  million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. It also furthers understanding of  how infectious diseases such as HIV, SARS, and avian and swine flu can be  transmitted to humans from animals.</p>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/stories/510530674-gorillas-carry-malignant-malaria-parasite-study-reports>