QUESTION

What is a malaria parasite?

ANSWER

A malaria parasite is a single-celled protozoan of the genus Plasmodium. These parasites have a complex life-cycle, which involves sexual reproduction in a mosquito vector, plus cycles of asexual reproduction and multiplication in a human host (or other animal – other primates, rodents, birds and reptiles can also be infected with Plasmodium parasites). A diagram of the life cycle is below, courtesy of CDC.