Genetic homogeneity of goat malaria parasites in Asia and Africa suggests their expansion with domestic goat host.

ABSTRACT: Plasmodium was first identified in a goat in Angola in 1923, and only recently characterized by DNA isolation from a goat blood sample in Zambia. Goats were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent approximately 10,000 years ago, and are now globally distributed. It is not known if the Plasmodium identified in African goats originated from parasites circulating in the local ungulates, or if it co-evolved in the goat before its domestication. To address this question, we performed PCR-based surveillance using a total of 1,299 goat blood samples collected from Sudan and Kenya in Africa, Iran in west Asia, and Myanmar and Thailand in southeast Asia. Plasmodium DNA was detected from all locations, suggesting that the parasite is not limited to Africa, but widely distributed. Whole mitochondr

SUBMITTER: Kaewthamasorn M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5895593 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature