Ape origins of human malaria

PM Sharp, LJ Plenderleith… - Annual review of …, 2020 - annualreviews.org
African apes harbor at least twelve Plasmodium species, some of which have been a source
of human infection. It is now well established that Plasmodium falciparum emerged following
the transmission of a gorilla parasite, perhaps within the last 10,000 years, while
Plasmodium vivax emerged earlier from a parasite lineage that infected humans and apes in
Africa before the Duffy-negative mutation eliminated the parasite from humans there.
Compared to their ape relatives, both human parasites have greatly reduced genetic …