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Nature Medicine 12, 170–171 (1 February 2006) | doi:10.1038/nm0206-170

Malaria parasites up close

Malcolm K Jones & Michael F Good

In 1898, Ronald Ross observed microscopic rods within the mouthparts of Anopheles mosquitoes that he had previously exposed to malaria-infected birds. Ross reasoned that the rods were infectious stages of malaria, and subsequent investigations confirmed that mammals and birds become infected with malaria by the bite of an infected mosquito.