The microscopic appearance of P. ovale is very similar to that of P. vivax and if there are only a small number of parasites seen, it may be impossible to distinguish the two species on morphological grounds alone.
Mikroskopski izgled P. ovale veoma je sličan onomu P. vivax, i, ako se može vidjeti malen broj parazita, gotovo je nemoguće razlikovati te dvije vrste.