Human infection with an ape Plasmodium vivax-like parasite
An unusually divergent Plasmodium vivax parasite was reported in a Swedish patient with recent travel. Using whole-genome sequencing, we show that the infection was caused by a strain of ape P. vivax-like, providing evidence of the zoonotic potential of these parasites that infect wild gorillas and chimpanzees in central Africa.
Authors
- Christen Rune Stensvold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1417-7048)
- Paul M. Sharp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9771-543X)
- Henrik Vedel Nielsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6773-1874)
- Thomas Booth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6134-1488)
- Tue Sparholt Jørgensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2437-7086)
- John Kerr White (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3485-5958)
- Jonathan Szeps
Institutions
- Statens Serum Institut (DK)
- Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.23.757543
- Primary Topic
- Malaria Research and Control
- Type
- preprint
Funders
- Novo Nordisk