E-Poster with pre-recorded video presentation Lorne Infection and Immunity 2021

Investigating molecular markers of Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin resistance in Papua New Guinea  (#288)

Dulcie Lautu 1 2 3 4 , Zahra Razook 4 5 , Tamarah Koleala 1 , Elma Nate 1 , Samuel McEwen 4 , Manuel Hetzel 6 , Leo Makita 7 , Ivo Mueller 2 8 , Moses Laman 1 , Leanne J Robinson 4 , Alyssa E Barry 4 5
  1. Vector Borne Disease Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang, Papua New Guinea
  2. Population Health & Immunity, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, PARKVILLE, Victoria, Australia
  3. Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Burnet Institue, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. School of Medicine , Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  6. Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
  7. PNG National Department of Health, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
  8. Pasteur Institute, Paris, France

Mutations in the P. falciparum kelch 13 gene (Pfk13) are associated with artemisinin resistance and emerged in Cambodia in 2008. While there is growing evidence of widespread Pfk13 mutations throughout South East Asia and recent reports of a C580Y mutant parasite isolated in Wewak, a port town in Papua New Guinea (PNG), insufficient evidence exists to determine the extent of the local spread of mutant parasites. We investigated the prevalence of Pfk13 mutations in geographically distinct regions of PNG from samples collected in 2015 – 2018 (n=1332). Isolates were screened by a standard Pfk13 PCR assay and sequenced. Sequencing showed 663 high quality Pfk13 sequences with five NS mutations; C580Y and 4 novel mutations R471C, N499K, K586E and Y635C. All mutations were found in a single isolate indicating that Pfk13 mutations are rare in the surveyed areas, with no C580Y mutation in the previously identified area. The single C580Y isolate in our study, was found in another port town, in the Morobe Province, indicating a potential entry site for the importation of drug resistant infections into PNG. Whilst these results show that mutants are rare, the identification of a C580Y mutation has increased ongoing surveillance of antimalarial resistance mutations nationwide.