Plasmodium falciparum
Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of "Plasmodium" that cause malaria in humans. It is transmitted through the bite of a female "Anopheles" mosquito. It is responsible for roughly 50% of all malaria cases. It causes the disease's most dangerous form called falciparum malaria. It is therefore regarded as the deadliest parasite in humans, causing 435,000 deaths in 2017. It is also associated with the development of blood cancer (Burkitt's lymphoma) and is classified as Group 2A carcinogen.
Plasmodium
In addition to a vertebrate host, all "Plasmodium" species also infect a bloodsucking insect host, generally a mosquito (although some reptile-infecting parasites are transmitted by sandflies). Mosquitoes of the genera "Culex", "Anopheles", "Culiseta", "Mansonia" and "Aedes" act as insect hosts for various "Plasmodium" species. The best studied of these are the "Anopheles" mosquitoes which host the "Plasmodium" parasites of human malaria, as well as "Culex" mosquitoes which host the "Plasmodium" species that cause malaria in birds. Only female mosquitoes are infected with "Plasmodium", since only they feed on the blood of vertebrate hosts. Different species affect their insect hosts differently. Sometimes, insects infected with "Plasmodium" have reduced lifespan and reduced ability to produce offspring. Further, some species of "Plasmodium" appear to cause insects to prefer to bite infected vertebrate hosts over non-infected hosts.