Origin of Two Most Virulent Agents of Human Malaria: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax

Abstract

Malaria is a protozoan disease caused by a parasite belonging to Plasmodium genus. Five species are known to infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium knowlesi, Plasmodium ovale , and Plasmodium malariae . Among these species, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax account for more than 95% of all human malaria infections and thus pose a serious public health challenge. Plasmodium falciparum is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, while Plasmodium vivax is rare in sub-Saharan Africa but endemic in many parts of Asia. The recent studies using the development of molecular tools have shown that a large diversity of malaria parasites circulate among the nonhuman primates and certainly present a similarity with human parasites. For a long time, the question of the origin of its parasites that infect human population has been the subject of much debate. Today, it would seem that both most virulent agents of human malaria would come from African apes. Thus, this chapter tries to review available data about the origin of these two Plasmodium species.