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A malaria parasite undergoes exflagellation, which normally occurs in the mid-gut of a mosquito.
This thin human blood smear primarily contains gametocytes of P. falciparum. The gametocyte in the upper right is undergoing exflagellation, a process that normally occurs in the mid-gut of the mosquito host. However, it may be observed in human blood specimens when there is a delay in processing the blood.
Credit: CDC
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