Khomdram Bijoya Devi

This is the first record on the possibility of occurrence of, a bacterium generally found in the Baltic Sea, in the waters of Jiribam, Manipur, India. The specimen was identified accidentally while carrying out mitochondrial DNA sequencing of some fish species being caught from Sorok atingbi area of Jiribam sub division, Manipur state, India. Three sequences matched well (100% homology) with those of Shewanella baltica in NCBI.

Development of new alternative antimalarial drugs is need of the hour since plasmodium becomes drug resistant and because drugs using nowadays have side effects. This need initiated intensive efforts for developing antimalarial drugs from indigenous medicinal plants. A survey was carried out in Jiribam subdivision , Manipur from November 2014 to September 2015 to explore the medicinal plants normally used by local people for treatment of malaria and its associated symptoms. A total of 21 different species of medicinal plants belonging to 15 families were found to use by local herbal healers and villagers to treat malaria and its associated symptoms. The present study is first of its kind in exploring medicinal plants of this region and an effort to assess the folk medicinal knowledge and practices of local people of Jiribam, Manipur towards treatment of malaria and associated symptoms. 1. Introduction Malaria is a tropical disease which is caused by single-celled protozoan parasites called Plasmodium. It is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquito. It is one of the major fatal diseases in the world, especially in the tropics, and is endemic in some 102 countries with more than half of the world population at risk with fatality rates being extremely high among young children below 5 years of age [1]. Control of malaria is complex because f the appearance of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium and with the discovery that man becomes infested with species of simian (monkey) malaria [1]. At the same time the Anopheles mosquitoes have developed resistance to many insecticides [2]. Spread of multidrug-resistant strains of Plasmodium and the adverse side effects of the existing anti-malarial drugs have necessitated the search for novel, well-tolerated and more efficient anti-malarial drugs that kill either the vector or the malarial parasite. The use of plant-derived drugs for the treatment of malaria has a long and successful tradition. Main drugs developed for malaria and used until now were discovered based on traditional use and ethnomedical data [3]. Jiribam is a small subdivision under Imphal East district of Manipur, North East India. The region is dominated by Manipuris and they have got a rich traditional knowledge of herbal healing by traditional methods using varieties of medicinal plants. A lot of medicinal plants are found here which remain unexplored and not properly documented. Being in tropical forest region, Jiribam has many damp forest areas which are home to mosquitoes and as a result maximum cases of malaria are recorded from Jiribam. The local people residing in village areas use many plants as a means to cure fever and other symptoms which are mainly the symptoms of malaria. Since malaria starts with high body temperature, body ache and fever and especially whenever there is fever, it was obvious that the person is suffering from malaria and therefore varieties of plants are used to cure and give relief to malaria and its associated symptoms. The list of antimalarial plants of India has not yet been completely searched out and it is an urgent need to compile this data. The aim of this study was to compile the medicinal plants used by local herbal healers and village elders residing in Jiribam subdivision of Manipur which are used to cure malaria and its associated symptoms. The present study would result in adding the data of antimalarial plants in national level. The findings would help the future phytochemists to evaluate the best antimalarial plants and it would be possible to formulate the most effective medicine from this region of the world.