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Malaria's Deadly Leap From Chimps to Humans
from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)
AMHERST -- The terrible transfer took only an instant. One mosquito; one hot-blooded human target; one quick puncture of skin. Most likely, our distant ancestor reacted with no more than a scratch and a shrug.
Thus did malaria leap across the "species divide" between chimpanzees and humans, according to new research led by a University of Massachusetts at Amherst scientist.
Additionally, the research suggests the transmission occurred much more recently than many epidemiologists had believed--perhaps as primitive farmers started encroaching on chimp territory by felling trees and digging drainage ditches.
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