''Plasmodium fischeri'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Lacertamoeba ''Lacertamoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' — all of which are parasites. All species in this subgenus infect reptiles. Taxonomy This subgenus was created by Telford to refine the classification of species then given as ''Plasm ...

''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. fischeri'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

Description

The parasite was first described by Ball and Pringle in 1965.Ball G.H. and Pringle G. (1965) ''Plasmodium fischeri'' n. sp. from ''Chamaeleo fischeri''. J. Protozool. 12(4):479-482

Geographical occurrence

This species is found in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Clinical features and host pathology

The only known host of this species is Fischer's or the Eastern Usambara chameleon ('' Chamaeleo fischeri''). This host species is also known as '' Chamaeleo excubitor'', '' Bradypodion fischeri'' and ''

Kinyongia fischeri Fischer's chameleon (''Kinyongia fischeri'' ) is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania. Etymology The specific name, ''fischeri'', is in honor of German herpetologist Johann Gustav Fis ...

''.

References

fischeri {{plasmodium-stub