The pathogens that cause malaria are protists. Malaria causes recurrent episodes of fever and can be fatal.
The malarial protist has a life cycle that includes the mosquito. A vector is an organism that spreads a pathogen from one host to another. Mosquitos are the vectors for malaria. A mosquito picks up the protist when it bites an infected person, then passes it on when it bites someone else. The disease is not passed directly between people.
The spread of malaria is controlled by preventing the vectors, mosquitos, from breeding, for example by draining standing water where they lay eggs. It is also controlled by using mosquito nets to avoid being bitten.
