Genomic investigation of atypical malaria cases in Kanel, northern Senegal

Abstract BackgroundDiagnosis of malaria cases in regions where the malaria burden has decreased significantly and prevalence is very low becomes more challenging, in part because of reduced clinical presumption of malaria. The appearance of a cluster of malaria cases with atypical symptoms in Mbounguiel, a village in northern Senegal where malaria transmission is low, in September 2018 exemplifies this scenario. The collaboration between the national malaria control program (NMCP) at the Senegal ministry of health and the laboratory of parasitology mycology at Cheikh Anta Diop University worked together to evaluate this cluster of malaria cases using molecular and serology tools.ResultsNine of the fifteen patients were evaluated, and all nine samples were found to be positive for P. falciparum only. The 24 SNP molecular barcode showed the predominance of polygenomic infections, with identifiable strains being different from one another. All patients tested positive for the P. falciparum antigens. No other pathogenic infection was detected by either the serological panel or metagenomic sequencing. ConclusionsThis work undertaken locally within Senegal as a collaboration between the NMCP and a research malaria laboratory at University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) revealed that a cluster of malaria cases were caused by different strains of P. falciparum. The public health response in real time demonstrates the value of local molecular and genomics capacity in affected countries disease control and elimination.