• Question: Do apes get infected with malaria?

    Asked by Achievers. to Mel on 2 Oct 2014.
    • Photo: Melissa Kapulu

      Melissa Kapulu answered on 2 Oct 2014:

      @Achievers fantastic question

      And the answer is that apes definitely get malaria. However the type of malaria parasite that infects them is different from the lethal parasite that causes human malaria.

      Did you know what there is evidence that human malaria actually evolved from apes. And that in fact humans can be infected with one of the species of Plasmodium (the parasite that causes malaria) that infects apes. It is called Plasmodium knowlesi. It is quickly becoming the type of malaria that infects humans and causes disease. It is very common in Asia. More scientists are now looking into this and the origins of human and ape malaria. Imagine that….. 🙂

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