Molecular evidence of sustained urban malaria transmission in Amazonian Brazil, 2014-2015

Author(s)

Salla, L. C. ^[1] ; Rodrigues, P. T. ^[1] ; Corder, R. M. ^[1] ; Johansen, I. C. ^[1] ; Ladeia-Andrade, S. ^[2] ; Ferreira, M. U. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Parasitol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Lab Parasit Dis, Rio De Janeiro - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND INFECTION; v. 148, FEB 21 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

The relative contribution of imported vs. locally acquired infections to urban malaria burden remains largely unexplored in Latin America, the most urbanised region in the developing world. Here we use a simple molecular epidemiology framework to examine the transmission dynamics of Plasmodium vivax in Mancio Lima, the Amazonian municipality with the highest malaria incidence rate in Brazil. We prospectively genotyped 177 P. vivax infections diagnosed in urban residents between June 2014 and July 2015 and showed that local parasites are structured into several lineages of closely related microsatellite haplotypes, with the largest genetic cluster comprising 32% of all infections. These findings are very unlikely under the hypothesis of multiple independent imports of parasite strains from the rural surroundings. Instead, the presence of an endemic near-clonal parasite lineage circulating over 13 consecutive months is consistent with a local P. vivax transmission chain in the town, with major implications for malaria elimination efforts in this and similar urban environments across the Amazon. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/18740-9 - Scientific bases for residual malaria elimination in the Brazilian Amazon
• Grantee: Marcelo Urbano Ferreira
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants