Title
Molecular characterization of a cluster of imported malaria cases in Puerto Rico
Date Issued
01 January 2017
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Silva-Flannery L.
Lucchi N.
Dragan L.
Dirlikov E.
Mace K.
Rivera-García B.
Arguin P.
Udhayakumar V.
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is targeted for malaria elimination. Currently, this is the only island with ongoing transmission of malaria in the Caribbean. In 2015, six patients from Puerto Rico and one from Massachusetts, who traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, were confirmed to be infected with Plasmodium falciparum. Additional molecular analysis was performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to characterize the drug-resistant alleles and Plasmodium population genetic markers. All specimens carried wildtype genotypes for chloroquine, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and artemisinin resistance genetic markers. A mutation in codon 184 (Y/F) of Pfmdr-1 gene was observed in all samples and they shared an identical genetic lineage as determined by microsatellite analysis. This genetic profile was similar to one previously reported from Hispaniola suggesting that a clonal P. falciparum residual parasite population present in Punta Cana is the source population for these imported malaria cases.
Start page
758
End page
760
Volume
97
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Medicina tropical
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85028979781
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
0002-9637
Sponsor(s)
Financial support: This work was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by the Antimicrobial Resistance Working Group. Stella M. Chenet was supported by the American Society of Microbiology/CDC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus