Characterization of Plasmodium ovale spp. imported from Africa to Henan Province, China

As indigenous malaria has decreased over recent decades, the increasing number of imported malaria cases has provided a new challenge for China. The proportion of imported cases due to Plasmodium ovale has increased during this time, and the difference between P. ovale curtisi and P. ovale wallikeri is of importance. To better understand P. ovale epidemiology and the differences between the two subspecies, information on imported malaria in Henan Province was collected during 2010–2017. We carried out a descriptive study to analyze the prevalence, proportion, distribution, and origin of P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri. It showed that imported P. ovale spp. accounts for a large proportion of total malaria cases in Henan Province, even more than that of P. vivax. This suggests that the proportion of P. ovale cases is underestimated in Africa. Among these cases, the latency period of P. o. curtisi was significantly longer than that of P. o. wallikeri. More attention should be paid to imported ovale malaria to avoid the reintroduction of these two subspecies into China.