Emergence and Rising Prevalence of Artemisinin Partial Resistance Marker Kelch13 P441L in a Low Malaria Transmission Setting in Southern Zambia
Increasing artemisinin partial resistance (ART-R) due to mutations in the gene encoding Kelch13 (Pfk13) protein in eastern Africa is of urgent concern, and mutations, such as Pfk13 P441L, continue to emerge. We used an amplicon deep-sequencing panel to estimate the prevalence of validated and candidate ART-R Pfk13 mutations in samples collected between 2018 and 2023 in southern Zambia. Pfk13 P441L was present in 30 of 501 samples (6%), and prevalence increased over time (0% to 7.2%). Further studies of the P441L mutation are needed to document its geographical origin, distribution, and impact on treatment outcomes.
Authors
- Alfred Simkin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9408-0053)
- Japhet Matoba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6021-659X)
- Jeffrey A. Bailey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6899-8204)
- Ben Katowa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8935-9196)
- A. Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0068-6519)
- Jessica L. Schue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5188-5692)
- William J. Moss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6579-3513)
- Edgar Simulundu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9423-0816)
- Jonathan J. Juliano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0591-0850)
- Abebe A. Fola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5392-2859)
- Michael Musonda
- Jacob M. Sadler
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Brown University (US)
- Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (ZM)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2025-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf188
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Malaria Research and Control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.51