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Multidrug-Resistant Malaria Spreading in Southeast Asia, Study Shows

Reuters

   LONDON - Strains of malaria resistant to two key anti-malarial
   medicines are becoming more dominant in Vietnam, Laos and northern
   Thailand after spreading rapidly from Cambodia, scientists warned
   Monday.

   Using genomic surveillance to track the spread of drug-resistant
   malaria, the scientists found that the strain, known as KEL1/PLA1, has
   also evolved and picked up new genetic mutations which may make it yet
   more resistant to drugs.

   "We discovered [it] had spread aggressively, replacing local malaria
   parasites, and had become the dominant strain in Vietnam, Laos and
   northeastern Thailand," said Roberto Amato, who worked with a team from
   Britain's Wellcome Sanger Institute and Oxford University and
   Thailand's Mahidol University.

   Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites which are carried by
   mosquitoes and spread through their blood-sucking bites.