New Vectors That Are Early Feeders for Plasmodium Knowlesi and Other Simian Malaria Parasites in the Betong Division of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Joshua Ang Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Khatijah Yaman Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Khamisah Kadir Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Asmad Matusop Sarawak Department of Health Balbir Singh (
[email protected] ) Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Research Article Keywords: COI, malaria, PCR, molecular Posted Date: December 23rd, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-127897/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Version of Record: A version of this preprint was published at Scientic Reports on April 8th, 2021. See the published version at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86107-3. Page 1/21 Abstract Plasmodium knowlesi is the main cause of malaria in Sarawak, where studies on vectors of P. knowlesi have been conducted in only two districts. Anopheles balabacensis and An. donaldi were incriminated as vectors in Lawas and An. latens in Kapit. We studied a third location in Sarawak, Betong, where of 2,169 mosquitoes collected over 36 days using human-landing catches, 169 (7.8%) were Anopheles spp. PCR and phylogenetic analyses identied P. knowlesi and/or P. cynomolgi, P. eldi, P. inui, P. coatneyi and novel Plasmodium spp. in salivary glands of An. latens and An. introlatus from the Leucosphyrus Group and in An. collessi and An. roperi from the Umbrosus Group. Phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequences indicated three P. knowlesi-positive An. introlatus had been misidentied morphologically as An. latens, while An.