Book excerpt: This manual has been developed to provide those who are involved in the diagnosis of parasitic diseases with a resource that encompasses the basic technology required for detection of parasites and identification of their diagnostic stages in feces, blood, other body fluids, and tissues. In addition to the technical procedures described, a summary of the morphologic charateristics that are used in the identification of protozoa and helminths is provided as well as line drawings, original color representations of the stages of the human malarial parasites, and photomicrographs of the diagnostic stages of many parasites.