Age-related effects on malaria parasite infection in wild chimpanzees.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: De Nys HM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3730613 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Age-related effects on malaria parasite infection in wild chimpanzees.
De Nys Hélène M HM Calvignac-Spencer Sébastien S Thiesen Ursula U Boesch Christophe C Wittig Roman M RM Mundry Roger R Leendertz Fabian H FH
Biology letters 20130529 4
Wild great apes are widely infected with a number of malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.). Yet, nothing is known about the biology of these infections in the wild. Using faecal samples collected from wild chimpanzees, we investigated the effect of age on Plasmodium spp. detection rates. The data show a strong association between age and malaria parasite positivity, with significantly lower detection rates in adults. This suggests that, as in humans, individuals reaching adulthood have mounted an ...[more]
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