First Case of Imported Plasmodium Ovale from Iran

Malaria is one of the most important vector-borne parasitic diseases in the world, particularly in tropicaland subtropical areas.1,2 it is caused by one, or rarely more than one, of four plasmodia species namely, plasmodium vivax, p. falciparum, p. malariae and p. ovale. plasmodium ovale has a pattern of fever and relapse similar to that of p. vivax, but generally milder clinical symptoms,3 plasmodium ovaleis mostly limited to tropical africa and southeast asia,4-6 with a prevalence of 10-15% and 2.0-9.4%,respectively.7 iran is an endemic region for malaria in the middle east with p. vivax, p. falciparum, andrarely p. malariae infections. herein the first authentic imported case of plasmodium oval in iran isreported.