Frozen blood clots can be used for the diagnosis of distinct Plasmodium species in man and non-human primates from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Background: Zoonotic infections with epidemic potential, as non-human primate malaria and yellow fever (YF), can overlap geographically. Optimizing a small blood sample for diagnosis and surveillance is of great importance. Blood are routinely collected for YF diagnosis and blood clots usually discarded after serum obtention. Aiming to take sample advantage, the sensitivity of a PCR using extracted DNA from long-term frozen clots from human and non-human primates for detection of Plasmodium spp. in low parasitaemia conditions was assayed. Results: Malaria diagnosis with DNA extracted from blood clots generated results in agreement with samples obtained with whole blood, including mixed Plasmodium vivax/simium and Plasmodium malariae/brasilianum infections. Conclusion: Blood clots from human and non-human primates may be an important and low cost source of DNA for malaria surveillance in the Atlantic Forest.