Call to Study Malarial Parasites

KUCHING: An in-depth research should be conducted on malarial parasites which are being transmitted to humans from wild monkeys.

Professor Dr Balbir Singh of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, who has conducted initial research and field study, said a species of green anopheles mosquito could be the link.

Dr Balbir’s research in the interiors of Kapit Division three years ago has unearthed evidence that humans in the area had contracted malarial parasites from monkeys through mosquitos.

“We have suspected cases in Peninsular Malaysia where bats were said to be the sources of Japanese Encephalitis or Nipah viral infections disease (inflammation of the brain), but all these are not conclusive,” he told a press conference ahead of a Jan 21 and 22 symposium on zooneses and emerging infectious diseases here.

A paper on foot-and-mouth disease, which hit the nation a few years ago, will be presented by Unimas’ Professor Mary Jane Cardosa.

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