A recent emigrant from Somalia develops high fever, chills, and severe headache. Blood work on admission to the hospital reveals the following in his blood smear at 1000$\times$. This patient is most likely infected with

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The blood smear shows ring-shaped and crescent-shaped forms, as well as multiple infected red blood cells. These are characteristic of P. falciparum, the most deadly of the four Plasmodium species that cause malaria. The other species (P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. vivax) typically have fewer infected red blood cells and/or different shaped forms seen on blood smears.

A Recent Emigrant from Somalia Develops High Fever, Chills, and Severe