New vectors in northern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, for the zoonotic malaria parasite, Plasmodium knowlesi
Abstract Background: Plasmodium knowlesi is a significant cause of human malaria in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Only one study has been previously undertaken in Sarawak to identify vectors of P. knowlesi, where Anopheles latens was incriminated as the vector in Kapit, central Sarawak. A study was therefore undertaken to identify malaria vectors in a different location in Sarawak.Methods: Mosquitoes found landing on humans and resting on leaves over a 5-day period at two sites in the Lawas District of northern Sarawak were collected and identified. DNA samples extracted from salivary glands of Anopheles mosquitoes were subjected to nested PCR malaria-detection assays. The small sub-unit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA) genes of Plasmodium , and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequences of the mosquitoes were derived from the Plasmodium -positive samples for phylogenetic analysis.Results: A total of 65 anophelines and 127 culicines were collected. By PCR, six An. balabacensis and five An. donaldi were found to have single P. knowlesi infections while three other An. balabacensis had either single, double or triple infections with P. inui, P. fieldi, P. cynomolgi and P. knowlesi . Phylogenetic analysis of the Plasmodium SSUrRNA genes confirmed 3 An. donaldi and 3 An. balabacensis with single P. knowlesi infections, while 3 other An. balabacensis had two or more Plasmodium species of P. inui, P. knowlesi, P. cynomolgi and some species of Plasmodium that could not be conclusively identified. Phylogenies inferred from the ITS2 and/or COI sequences of An. balabacensis and An. donaldi indicate that they are genetically indistinguishable from An. balabacensis and An. donaldi, respectively, found in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.Conclusions: Previously An. latens was identified as the vector for P. knowlesi in Kapit, central Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and now An. balabacensis and An. donaldi have been incriminated as vectors for zoonotic malaria in Lawas, northern Sarawak.