Monkey malaria: Is it the next virus?

The study, financed by UK charity the Wellcome Trust, examined the clinical and laboratory features of the P. knowlesi strain of malaria, which until recently was thought to predominantly infect monkeys in Southeast Asia. "Understanding the most common features of the disease will be important in helping make this diagnosis and in planning appropriate clinical management."
The researchers collected data for the study from a group of 150 patients admitted to the Kapit hospital in Sarawak who tested positive for malaria. Using molecular detection methods, the team found P. knowlesi was the most common form of malaria, accounting for more than two-thirds of the cases. Most of those infected with the strain were easily treated with chloroquine and primaquine, two common anti-malarials, but one in ten of the patients developed complications, and two died, the study said.