University of Central Florida (UCF) BSC1005 Biological Principles Practice Exam 3

The correct understanding of how malaria spreads in the human body is through insect bites only. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites a person, it injects saliva that contains the malaria parasites into the bloodstream.

Once inside the human body, the parasites travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply. After this initial phase, they re-enter the bloodstream and invade red blood cells, where they continue to replicate. This leads to the symptoms typically associated with malaria, such as fever, chills, and anemia.

It’s important to note that malaria does not spread through contaminated water, infected food, or by modifying red blood cells themselves. Instead, the initial transmission occurs exclusively through the bites of infected mosquitoes, making it a vector-borne disease.