Plasmodium

Plasmodium: The parasite guilty in the case of malaria (paludism). Plasmodium is a type of protozoa, a single-celled organism able to divide only within a host cell.

The main types are: Plasmodium falciparum, the species which causes falciparum malaria, the most dangerous type of malaria; Plasmodium malariae, the species which causes quartan malaria; Plasmodium ovale, a species found primarily in East and Central Africa that causes ovale malaria; and Plasmodium vivax, the species causing vivax malaria which is milder than falciparum malaria.