TY - JOUR T1 - Examining the early distribution of the artemisinin-resistant <em>Plasmodium falciparum</em> kelch13 R561H mutation in Rwanda JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2022.10.26.513523 SP - 2022.10.26.513523 AU - Rebecca Kirby AU - David Giesbrecht AU - Corine Karema AU - Oliver Watson AU - Savannah Lewis AU - Tharcisse Munyaneza AU - Jean de Dieu Butera AU - Jonathan J Juliano AU - Jeffrey Bailey AU - Jean Baptiste Mazarati Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/10/26/2022.10.26.513523.abstract N2 - Artemisinin resistance mutations in Plasmodium falciparum kelch13 (Pfk13) have begun to emerge in Africa. Pfk13-R561H was the first reported African mutation found in Rwanda in 2014, but limited sampling left questions about its early distribution and origin. We detected 476 parasitemias among 1873 residual blood spots from a 2014-15 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey. We sequenced 351 samples revealing 341/351 were wild type (97.03% weighted) and 4 samples (1.34% weighted) harbored R561H which were significantly spatially clustered. Our study better defines the early distribution of R561H in Rwanda and suggests that the origin may have involved higher-transmission regions.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -