Malaria species prevalence among asymptomatic individuals in four regions of Mainland Tanzania.

Recent studies point to the need to incorporate non-falciparum species detection into malaria surveillance activities in sub-Saharan Africa, where 95% of malaria cases occur. Although infection is typically more severe, diagnosis, treatment, and control for , spp., and may be more challenging. The prevalence of these species throughout sub-Saharan Africa is poorly defined. Tanzania has geographically heterogeneous transmission levels but an overall high malaria burden. In order to estimate the prevalence of malaria species in Mainland Tanzania, 1,428 samples were randomly selected from 6,005 asymptomatic isolates collected in cross-sectional community surveys across four regions and analyzed via qPCR to detect each species. was most prevalent, with and spp. detected at lower prevalence (<5%) in all four regions. was not detected. Malaria elimination efforts in Tanzania will need to account for these non-falciparum species.