Plasmodium vivax
Plasmodium vivax is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring (Benign tertian) malaria, "P. vivax" is one of the five species of malaria parasites that commonly infect humans. Although it is less virulent than "Plasmodium falciparum", the deadliest of the five human malaria parasites, "P. vivax" malaria infections can lead to severe disease and death, often due to splenomegaly (a pathologically enlarged spleen). "P. vivax" is carried by the female "Anopheles" mosquito; the males do not bite.
Globalization and disease
On Nov. 6, 1880 Alphonse Laveran discovered that malaria (then called "Marsh Fever") was a protozoan parasite, and that mosquitoes carry and transmit malaria. Malaria is a protozoan infectious disease that is generally transmitted to humans by mosquitoes between dusk and dawn. The European variety, known as "vivax" after the "Plasmodium vivax" parasite, causes a relatively mild, yet chronically aggravating disease. The west African variety is caused by the sporozoan parasite, "Plasmodium falciparum", and results in a severely debilitating and deadly disease.