Plasmodium

Genus of parasitic protists that can cause malaria

Plasmodium is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects such as mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. The life cycles of Plasmodium species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vertebrate host during a blood meal. Parasites grow within a vertebrate body tissue (often the liver) before entering the bloodstream to infect red blood cells.

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