Imported malaria in Rio de Janeiro state between 2007 and 2015: an epidemiologic approach

Imported cases of malaria in Brazil from South American countries: a retrospective ecological study from 2009 to 2022

The Legal Amazon region serves as a hotspot for imported malaria from other South American countries, with over 75% of cases concentrated in municipalities that cover extensive Indigenous territories. These areas have witnessed substantial escalations in deforestation and illegal mining activities over the years.

A PCR-RFLP Technique to Assess the Geographic Origin of Plasmodium falciparum Strains in Central America

The elimination of malaria requires strengthening diagnosis and offering adequate and timely treatment. Imported cases of falciparum malaria represent a major challenge for pre-elimination areas, such as Central America, where chloroquine and primaquine continue to be used as first-line treatment. The pfs47 gene has been previously described as a precise molecular marker to track the geographic origin of the parasite. The aim of this study was to design a simple and low-cost technique using the polymorphic region of pfs47 to assess the geographic origin of P. falciparum strains. A PCR-RFLP technique was developed and evaluated using the MseI enzyme that proved capable of discriminating, with reasonable precision, the geographical origin of the parasites. This method could be used by national surveillance laboratories and malaria elimination programs in countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua in cases of malaria where an origin outside the Central American isthmus is suspected.