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Volume 11 Supplement 1

Challenges in malaria research

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Fragmented population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in Papua New Guinea: Implications for malaria control

Malaria is being controlled in Papua New Guinea (PNG) where the epidemiology of the disease ranges from highly endemic in low-lying regions to epidemics in the highlands. Analyses of microsatellite haplotypes have revealed that populations of Plasmodium falciparum on the north coast of PNG are genetically isolated. If this fragmented population structure is found throughout PNG it will provide a unique opportunity for planning malaria control strategies and focusing efforts on regions where they are likely to have the greatest impact. We are working towards defining a high-resolution population genomic map of parasite networks and migration patterns throughout PNG using single nucleotide polymorphisms. Our approach, preliminary data and the practical implications of this research will be discussed in context with the national malaria control program.

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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Barry, A.E., Mueller, I., Harrison, G.A. et al. Fragmented population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in Papua New Guinea: Implications for malaria control. Malar J 11 (Suppl 1), P113 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-S1-P113

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-S1-P113

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