Wild African great apes as natural hosts of malaria parasites: current knowledge and research perspectives

摘要

Humans and African great apes (AGAs) are naturally infected with severalspecies of closely related malaria parasites. The need to understand theorigins of human malaria as well as the risk of zoonotic transmissions andemergence of new malaria strains in human populations has markedly encouragedresearch on great ape parasites. Progress in the use ofnon-invasive methods has rendered investigations into wild ape populationspossible. Present knowledge is mainly focused on parasite diversity andphylogeny, with still large gaps to fill on malaria parasite ecology.Understanding what malaria infection means in terms of great ape health isalso an important, but challenging avenue of research and has been subject torelatively few research efforts so far. This paper reviews current knowledgeon African great ape malaria and identifies gaps and future researchperspectives.