Malaria. Coloured freeze-fractured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a section through a red blood cell infected with a malaria parasite (Plasmodium sp.). The blood cell appears pear- shaped, swollen by the presence of the parasite (green). The 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: x10,100 at 6x7cm size. magnification: x34,000 at 8x10 inch size.