Malaria. Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a section through a misshapen red blood cell infected with a malaria parasite (Plasmodium sp.). The blood cell is coloured crimson. A single-celled malaria parasite (green) is seen in the swollen blood cell. This plasmodium is spread to humans by tropical species of mosquito (Anopheles sp.). Once in the human body, the plasmodia spread to the liver and then the blood, where they multiply inside blood cells, bursting out when mature to reinfect other blood cells. Release of plasmodia into the blood causes bouts of fever in malaria that can be fatal. Magnification: x11,600 at 6x7cm size. magnification: X40,000 AT 8x10 inch size.