Question

Intermediate host of the malarial parasite
A. Pig
B. Man
C. Mosquito
D. Larva of mosquito

Answer 1

Hint: The malarial parasite is one of the oldest parasites found in the world. The name of the malarial parasite is Plasmodium. It infects the human immune system and regulates its life cycle in the host. It has proven very hard to demolish the parasite.

Complete answer:
According to medical science, malaria is one of the oldest human diseases. From its fast case until now, even in today's developed medical science, it is one of the most dominant human infectious diseases even today.
The parasite which is responsible for the disease malaria in humans is of the genus Plasmodium. It’s a protozoan parasite. Plasmodium falciparum is the most active among the five known species, other species are P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi that also attacks human beings. The malarial parasites are mostly single-celled and eukaryotic.
Malaria infected people show symptoms like high fever, severe shaking chills, sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and anaemia.
The malarial parasite transmitted in humans by the bite of a mosquito. It is mainly spread by the bite of female Anopheles mosquito. The malarial parasite Plasmodium goes through several life stages. To complete the life cycle the parasite needs two hosts. First is the insect definitive host which is also called a vector. And the second one is the vertebrate intermediate host. The life cycle of Plasmodium observes in both hosts.
At first, the female Anopheles mosquitoes act as insect definitive host or vector. In the mosquito, the parasite goes through its sexual stages. When an affected female Anopheles mosquito bites a human, the parasite is injected in the form of sporozoites in humans. Here the humans acted as the intermediate host. In humans, the malarial parasite enters the bloodstream and moves to the liver cells. There the parasite grows up and gets multiplies, then steps into red blood cells. In blood, it produces daughter parasites.

Therefore, the correct option is option B.

Note: Plasmodium is the malarial parasite, which is responsible for the disease of malaria in human beings. To complete its life cycle it needs two types of hosts. The first host is an insect definitive host which is also known as the vector. Female Anopheles mosquitoes are this type of host. The other is the intermediate host and humans act as this type of host.