Malaria in Ethiopia.

Between 1 January and 20 October 2024 more than 7.4 million cases of Malaria were reported in Ethiopia, with 1157 deaths recorded, a case fatality rate of 0.02%, according to a press release issued by the World Health Organization on 31 October 2024. On these infections, 95% were causes by Plasmodium falciparum. This is the highest number of cases reported in Ethiopia in seven years, and part of an ongoing rising trend of Plasmodium falciparum infections; in 2023, 4.21 million Malaria infections, with 527 deaths, with 70% caused by Plasmodium falciparum.

The overwhelming majority of cases occurred in the west of the country, with four regions accounting for 81% of all recorded infections and 89% of known deaths, with 44% of cases and 667 deaths in Oromo, 18% of cases and 56 deaths in Amhara, 12% of cases and 250 deaths in Southwest Ethiopia, and 7% of cases and 45 deaths in South Ethiopia. 

Geographical distribution of Malaria cases as of 20 October 2024. World Health Organization.

Of Ethiopia's 523 worodas (districts), 222 have been identified as having a high Malaria burden, together accounting for 75% of recorded Malaria cases in 2023. Fifty of these high-burden worodas are considered to be hard-to-access due to ongoing conflicts.

A slight majority of cases are males, who accounted for 56% of cases treated as outpatients and 52% of inpatient admissions. Children accounted for 16% of outpatients and 25% of inpatient admissions. This age and sex distribution is thought to be due to patterns of seasonal migration, with large numbers of adult male migrant workers seeking work in high-risk areas during the peak of the Malaria season. 

From 2000-onwards, Ethiopia had a steady reduction in the number of Malaria cases each year, driven by improved surveillance, roll-out of malaria interventions, and community health extension program. The number of cases fell to an all-time low in 2019, when only 900 000 cases were recorded, and there was no wide-ranging major epidemic, only sporadic local outbreaks. However, the country began to suffer a resurgence of the disease from 2021 onwards, with 1.3 million cases in 2021, 3.3 million cases in 2022, and 4.1 million cases in 2023. This return appears to have been driven by the Plasmodium falciparum strain of the disease, which caused 70% of the infections in 2023, and which appears to have become endemic in areas where it was not previously known.

Weekly trend of malaria cases in Ethiopia, 01 January 2021 to 13 October 2024. World Health Organization.

Malaria is caused by parasitic unicellular Eukaryotes of the genus Plasmodium, and affects a wide range of terrestrial Vertebrates. Five different species of Plasmodium can cause Malaria in Humans, with most infections caused by either Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax, both of which are endemic to Ethiopia. The parasites are primarily spread via the bite of the female Anopheles Mosquitoes (males do not bite), but can also be spread through blood transfusions, organ transplants, or practices such as needle-sharing.

Photomicrograph of a blood smear containing a macro- and microgametocyte of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Both macro- and microgametocytes are products of the erythrocytic life cycle. Within a few minutes after the Anopheles sp. vector ingests the gametocytes, microgametocytes develop into microgametes, which are able to fertilize gametes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikipedia Commons.

Malaria manifests with approximately 10-15 days after infection, as a fever, headache, and chills. Mild cases often pass soon, and can be difficult to identify as Malaria, however, more severe cases can be fatal in as little as 24 hours after the onset of symptoms. 

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Pothos deleonii: A new species of Arum from Mindanao Island.

Arums of the genus Pothos are hemiepiphytic vines (Plants which begin life as epiphytes growing upon other plants, but which as they grow stronger become self-supporting) found in tropical and subtropical forests in South China, Southeast Asia, Austrolasia, Oceana, and Madagascar. 

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 15 October 2024, Maria Melanie Medecilo-Guiang of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Extension in Mindanao and Plant Biology Division at Central Mindanao University, and Derek Cabactulan of Cagayan de Oro City, describe a new species of Pothos from Bukidnon Province on Mindanao Island, Philippines.

The new species was first noted as possibly significant on the basis of its remarkable inflorescence, by conservationist and eye surgeon Miguel De Leon at a Robert S. Kennedy Bird Conservancy site in Bukidnon Province during an ornithological expedition in 2019. A subsequent expedition to the same site in February 2024 collected samples of the plant, from which it has been confirmed to be a new species. This is named Pothos deleonii, in honour of the initial discoverer.

Pothos deleonii. (A) Habit with flowering branch, (B) leaf apex, (C) leaf base, (D) venation pattern, (E) inflorescence, (F( detail of spadix. Medecilo-Guiang & Cabactulan (2024).

Pothos deleonii is a root climbing, fibrous liana, with slender, slightly woody, green stems from which slender leaves arise on petioles (leaf stems) at regular intervals. Roots are found along the stem when the plants are young, but become less common as the Plant matures, and tend to be absent around inflorescence-producing termini. Inflorescences are born singularly on elongated peduncles (flower stalks) which hang 16-18 cm below the stem. These inflorescences are a dark wine red, aging to purplish black, with a spadix (spike with a large number of small flowers) up to 6.9 cm long, surrounded by a spathe (petal-like structure) up to 10 cm long and 5.5 cm wide.

Pothos deleonii was found growing at only two locations, climbing on the  base and trunks of Tree Ferns of the genus Alsophila, in an area of degraded secondary, open-canopy Dipterocarp forest, at altitudes of 1150 and 1270 m above sealevel. Once the vines reach about 4-6 m in height they become independent of their host, able to stand free, either on their own base or supported by the surrounding tree canopy. 

Both known sites are within a 5 km² area in the northern foothills of Mt. Kitanglad. This area is protected, and monitored by the Robert S. Kennedy Bird Conservancy, and not considered to be under any threat. However, on the basis of the low number of specimens discovered, and the limited area within which it is found, Medecilo-Guiang and Cabactulan recommend that Pothos deleonii is classified as Critically Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

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Pheidole praehistorica: A new species of Spiny Ant from Oligo–Miocene Chiapas Amber.

The genus Pheidole is currently considered to be the most diverse genus of Ants, with 1160 living and six fossil species. Although global in distribution, the genus is at its most diverse in the Neotropics, and is presumed to have originated in this region. This is supported by the locations from which the known fossils in the genus have been recovered, with the oldest known species coming from the Eocene of Colorado, and other fossils known from the Miocene of the Dominican Republic (three species), and the Oligo-Miocene of Chiapas State, Mexico (2 species).

In a paper published in the European Journal of Taxonomy on 25 October 2024, Fernando Varela-Hernández & Franciso Riquelme of the Laboratorio de Sistemática Molecular at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, describe a third species of Pheidole from Chiapas Amber.

Chiapas Amber comes from the Simojovel, Totolapa, and Estrella de Belén localities in the Chiapas Highlands of southern Mexico, with the Simojovel site being the main centre of commercial amber extraction. The amber comes from a series of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, shale, and lignite beds of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene age, referred to as either the Simojovel Formation or the La Quinta Formation. The amber here is thought to have derived from a type of Leguminous tree of the genus Hymenaea; resin-producing trees belonging to this genus are also thought to have been responsible for Dominican Amber, which is of approximately the same age as Chiapas Amber, and are still found today across the Neotropics. 

The new species is named Pheidole praehistorica, where 'praehistorica' means 'prehistoric' in reference to the nature of the material from which it is described, five fossil Ants trapped within a single species of amber.

Pheidole praehistorica. (A)–(C) Holotype (CPAL.464). (A) Profile view. (B) Frontal view. (C) Closer lateral view of the head and mesosoma. (D) Paratype (CPAL.465), latero-frontal view of the head. (E) Paratype (CPAL.468), profile view. Abbreviations: acl, antennal club; an, antenna; cly, clypeus; ey, eyes; fl, foreleg; ga, gaster; ha, hairs on clypeus; hd, head; hl, hind  leg; mn,  mandible; nck, neck; p, petiole; pn, pronotum; pns, pronotal spine; pp, postpetiole; pps, propodeal spine; sc, scape. Varela-Hernández & Riquelme (2024).

Pheidole praehistorica is smaller than other species from Chiapas Amber, an average length of 2.3 mm, and has shorter pronotal spines (spines on the forward part of the thorax, immediately behind the head) and straight propodeal spines (spines on the rear part of the thorax, immediately before the abdomen. 

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