''Plasmodium michikoa'' 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 ver ...

'' subgenus ''

Sauramoeba ''Sauramoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'', all of which are parasitic eukaryotes. The subgenus was created in 1966 by Garnham. Species in this subgenus infect reptiles. Description The original criterion for inclusion in this ...

''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. michikoa'' 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, with c ...

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 ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.

Description

The parasite was first described by Telford in 1988.Telford SR Jr. (1988) Studies on African saurian malarias: five Plasmodium species from chamaeleons of the Uzungwe Mountains, Tanzania. Int. J. Parasitol. 18(2):197-219

Geographical occurrence

This species was described in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Clinical features and host pathology

The only known hosts are chameleons (''

Chamaeleo ''Chamaeleo'' is a genus of chameleons in the family Chamaeleonidae. Most species of the genus ''Chamaeleo'' are found in sub-Saharan Africa, but a few species are also present in northern Africa, southern Europe, and southern Asia east to Indi ...

'' species)

Description

Geographical occurrence

Clinical features and host pathology

References

Further reading