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Home / Malaria Q&A / Life Cycle of Malaria

Life Cycle of Malaria

June 6, 2012 By Malaria Q&A Leave a Comment

QUESTION

What is the life cycle of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a single celled organism in the genus Plasmodium. Five species of Plasmodium infect humans, but all follow a very similar life cycle, including two separate cycles of asexual reproduction in the human host (one in the liver, called the exo-erythrocytic cycle, and one in the blood, and specifically inside red blood cells, known as the erythrocytic cycle) and a sexual reproductive stage inside the mosquito definitive host (usually called the “vector”). A schematic of the full life cycle is below, courtesy of the CDC (www.cdc.gov).

You may also view a video of malaria life cycle.

malaria life cycle CDC

Schematic of the malaria life cycle, courtesy of CDC (www.cdc.gov)

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