Plasmodium fairchildi explained

Plasmodium fairchildi is a parasite of the genus Plasmodium.

Like all Plasmodium species it has vertebrate and insect hosts. The vertebrate hosts are reptiles. The insect vector is not known.

Description

This species was described by Telford in 1989.

Geographic occurrence

This species has been described in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Clinical features and host pathology

The only known host is the lizard Anolis cupreus.

Note

Two subspecies were recognised Plasmodium fairchildi fairchildi and Plasmodium fairchildi hispaniolae but the latter has been elevated to species level as Plasmodium hispaniolae.^[1]

Further reading

Telford. S.R.. Johnson. R.N.. Young. D.G.. Additional Plasmodium species from Anolis lizards of Hispaniola and Panama. International Journal for Parasitology. May 1989. 19. 3. 3–9. 10.1016/0020-7519(89)90138-0. 2759768.

Notes and References

1. Falk BG, Luke Mahler D, Perkins SL (2011) Tree-based delimitation of morphologically ambiguous taxa: A study of the lizard malaria parasites on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Int J Parasitol