Detection and characterization of Plasmodium spp. by semi-nested multiplex PCR both in mosquito vectors and in humans residing in historically endemic areas of Paraguay

Florencia Del Puerto; Mónica Ozorio; Beatriz Trinidad; Nidia Martínez; Martha Torales; Luciano Franco; Luis Ferreira; Ninfa Vera de Bilbao

doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00174

Detection and characterization of Plasmodium spp. by semi-nested multiplex PCR both in mosquito vectors and in humans residing in historically endemic areas of Paraguay

Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2020 Aug 15:11:e00174. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00174. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Florencia Del Puerto¹, Mónica Ozorio², Beatriz Trinidad², Nidia Martínez³, Martha Torales⁴, Luciano Franco³, Luis Ferreira³, Ninfa Vera de Bilbao¹

Affiliations

¹ National University of Asunción, Research Institute in Health Science (IICS-UNA), Department of Tropical Medicine, San Lorenzo, Paraguay.
² National Program of Malaria Control, National Service of Malaria Elimination (SENEPA), Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, Asunción, Paraguay.
³ Department of Entomology, National Service of Malaria Elimination (SENEPA), Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, Asunción, Paraguay.
⁴ Technical Management Office, National Service of Malaria Elimination (SENEPA), Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, Asunción, Paraguay.

Abstract

In Paraguay, no cases of Malaria have been recorded since 2011. Microscopy and the SnM-PCR technique were implemented to detect and characterize Plasmodium spp. both in mosquitoes and in humans residing in historically endemic areas of Paraguay, to evaluate the possibility of finding asymptomatic cases and/or Plasmodium parasites circulating in anophelines. Between 2013 and 2015, 361 human blood samples were collected on filter paper, and between 2016 and 2017, 938 female Anopheles mosquitoes were captured in 15 Paraguayan localities. All the diagnostic techniques showed negative results. We observed no asymptomatic case or Plasmodium circulating in vectors.

Keywords: Malaria; PCR; Paraguay.