Ecology, epidemiology and surveillance of zoonotic malaria in Southeast Asia

Project Details

Plasmodium knowlesi (Pk) is a naturally occurring parasite in some macaque and leaf-monkey species in Southeast Asia that can cause malaria via spillover infections in humans. Understanding a relatively neglected pathogen like P. knowlesi, which is coming to the fore in the wake of considerable advances toward the elimination of the more familiar human malaria parasites such as Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum, requires the design of efficient and integrated surveillance systems. In Indonesia, a broader monkey and human multi-pathogen approach to malaria surveillance encompassing P. knowlesi would maximise finite wildlife and public health resources. However, understanding of spatio-temporal dynamics of P. knowlesi infection prevalence in macaques and spillover risk to humans is lacking.

Our team leads the Geospatial research stream of “ZOOMAL” (Evaluating zoonotic malaria transmission and agricultural land use in Indonesia); a major Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research-funded initiative led by the Menzies School of Health Research. We are developing and applying methods for understanding geospatial variation in risk of P. knowlesi transmission to humans and optimising the geospatial allocation of resources to meet P. knowlesi surveillance objectives.

Researchers

Dr David Duncan

Ms Lucy Harrison​

Dr Freya Shearer

Mr Ruarai Tobin

Collaborators

Dr David Price

Prof Jennifer Flegg

A/Prof. Matthew Grigg (Menzies School of Health Research​)

Funding

​Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research​

Research Outcomes

Harrison, L. E., Flegg, J. A., Tobin, R., Lubis, I. N. D., Noviyanti, R., Grigg, M. J., Shearer, F. M., & Price, D. J. (2024). A multi-criteria framework for disease surveillance site selection: case study for Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Indonesia. Royal Society Open Science, 11(1), 230641. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230641

Tobin, R. J., Harrison, L. E., Tully, M. K., Lubis, I. N. D., Noviyanti, R., Anstey, N. M., Rajahram, G. S., Grigg, M. J., Flegg, J. A., Price, D. J., & Shearer, F. M. (2024). Updating estimates of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria risk in response to changing land use patterns across Southeast Asia. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 18(1), e0011570. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011570

Shearer, F. M., Huang, Z., Weiss, D. J., Wiebe, A., Gibson, H. S., Battle, K. E., Pigott, D. M., Brady, O. J., Putaporntip, C., Jongwutiwes, S., Lau, Y. L., Manske, M., Amato, R., Elyazar, I. R. F., Vythilingam, I., Bhatt, S., Gething, P. W., Singh, B., Golding, N., Hay, S.I., & Moyes, C. L. (2016). Estimating Geographical Variation in the Risk of Zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi Infection in Countries Eliminating Malaria. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 10(8), e0004915. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004915