''Plasmodium lophurae'' 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 ''

Giovannolaia ''Giovanolaia'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' created by Corradetti ''et al.'' in 1963. The parasites within this subgenus infect birds. This subgenus was shown on the basis of DNA analysis to be polyphyletic. This is unsurprising � ...

''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. lophurae'' 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

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

Description

The parasite was first described by Coggeshall in 1938 after being isolated from

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s. Adult chickens demonstrate resistance to this parasite.

Distribution

''P. lophurae'' was discovered in Sri Lanka and is endemic to the Southeast Asia region.

Description

''P. lophurae'' can be isolated from a blood smear.

References

lophurae Parasites of birds {{plasmodium-stub