Simian malaria in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: first description of natural infection of capuchin monkeys (Cebinae subfamily) by Plasmodium simium

Denise Anete Madureira de Alvarenga, Anielle de Pina-Costa, Taís Nóbrega de Sousa, Alcides Pissinatti, Mariano G Zalis, Martha C Suaréz-Mutis, Ricardo Lourenço-de-Oliveira, Patrícia Brasil, Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro, Cristiana Ferreira Alves de Brito

In Brazil, two species of Plasmodium have been described infecting non-human primates, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium simium. These species are morphologically, genetically and immunologically indistinguishable from the human Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax parasites, respectively. Plasmodium simium has been observed naturally infecting monkeys of the genera Alouatta and Brachyteles in a restricted area of the Atlantic Forest in the south and southeast regions of Brazil. However, its reported geographical distribution and the diversity of its vertebrate hosts may be underestimated, since available data were largely based on analyses by microscopic examination of peripheral blood, a method with limited sensitivity, considering the potential sub-patent feature of these infections. The present study describes, for the first time, the natural infection of P. simium in capuchin monkeys from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.