Humans may rarely develop a simian malaria caused by Plasmodium cynomolgi. Delays in or missed diagnosis occur since it differs from the usual suspects.
Distribution: Southeast Asia
Common reservoir: long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis)
Prepatent period: 7 to 16 days
Clinical symptoms:
(1) fever
(2) headache
(3) anorexia
(4) myalgia
(5) nausea
Forms in peripheral blood: primarily trophozoites
Nonmolecular rapid screening tests fail to detect the parasite.
Species specific real-time PCR for common types of malaria will be negative.
Speciation requires DNA sequencing.
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