Landscape drives zoonotic malaria prevalence in non-human primates

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.88616
• Publication Date: 2023-07-13T16:13:14Z
• Authors: Emilia Johnson; Reuben Sunil Kuma...; Pablo Ruiz Cuenca; Isabel Byrne; Milena Salgado-Lynn; Zarith Suraya Shahar; Lee Col Lin; Norhadila Zulkifli; Nor Dilaila Mohd ...; Chris Drakeley; Jason Matthiopoulos; Luca Nelli; Kimberly Fornace
• Keywords: Epidemiology; Social Sciences; Evolutionary biology; Wildlife; FOS: Health sciences; Zoonosis; 0302 clinical medicine; Zoonoses; Prevalence; Psychology; Biology (General); Internal medicine; Asia, Southeastern; forest fragmentation; Public health; Ecology; Geography; Q; R; Spatial epidemiology; 3. Good health; FOS: Psychology; Habitat; Environmental health; Medicine; Habitat fragmentation; Primates; Social Psychology; QH301-705.5; macaca fascicularis; Science; Malaria Parasite; Plasmodium falciparum; Immunology; malaria; landscape change; Nursing; Emerging Zoonotic Diseases and One Health Approach; 03 medical and health sciences; Virology; Health Sciences; disease ecology; Animals; Humans; Plasmodium knowlesi; Global Impact of Arboviral Diseases; Biology; Ecosystem; Evolution of Social Behavior in Primates; FOS: Clinical medicine; Primate Diseases; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; 15. Life on land; Malaria; FOS: Biological sciences; Plasmodium vivax; Zoology

Zoonotic disease dynamics in wildlife hosts are rarely quantified at macroecological scales due to the lack of systematic surveys. Non-human primates (NHPs) host Plasmodium knowlesi, a zoonotic malaria public health concern and main barrier elimination Southeast Asia. Understanding regional P. knowlesi infection is limited. Here, we systematically assemble reports NHP investigate geographic determinants prevalence reservoir species. Meta-analysis 6322 NHPs from 148 sites reveals that heterogeneous across Asia, with low overall high estimates for Malaysian Borneo. We find regions exhibiting higher overlap human hotspots. In humans, parasite transmission linked land conversion fragmentation. By assembling remote sensing data fitting statistical models multiple spatial scales, identify novel relationships between forest This suggests may be contingent on habitat complexity, which would begin explain observed variation burden. These findings address critical gaps understanding epidemiology indicate simian reservoirs key driver spillover risk.