Toxoplasma gondii

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Categories: Disorder

Type: Protozoa
Name: Toxoplasma gondii
Importance- to Body:
Parasitic Infection
Distribution- in Body:
Tissue cysts can form in virtually any organ predominantly forming and persistent in the brain, the eyes, and striated muscle (including the heart)
Epidemiology:
Food Sources:
Raw Meat, Undercooked Meat; Especially: Lamb, Pork, Venison, Unwashed Vegetables
Environmental/Geographic Sources:
Cutting Boards,Garden Soil, Sandbox, Litter Box, Cats, Warm-blooded Animals, Anything that has come into contact with cat faeces
Diagonosis:
Serological Dye Test, patient history, symptoms, laboratory test results, including an antibody titer test and microscopic examination of tissues
Treatment:
No human vaccine is currently available, but is being constantly researched.
For Acute Symptoms: Pyrimethamine, Sulfadiazine, Clindamycin, Spiramycin, Minocycline
For Latent Symptoms: Atovaquone, Clindamycin
During Pregnancy:DSpiramycin or pyrimethamine/sulfadiazine and Folinic acid may be used for treatment
Supplemental information:
Toxovax is an approved live vaccine for sheep and considered to provide lifetime protection.
Largely associated with cats, T. gondii can infect any warm blooded animal.
Many studies indicate evidence T. gondii may alter behavior in a host in turn allowing it to spread and reproduce.

Synonyms:
T. gondii,Toxoplasmosis
Related Articles:
  • What the Cat Dragged In...
    Scientists have discovered a parasite that inhabits rats and makes them feel a suicidal attraction for cats. The parasite, which infects as many as one in five rats, can also affect humans.
  • What is Zoonosis?
    As long as we are in the immediate environment of animals or untreated animal products, we are at risk of contracting a disease or infection that can be traced to them.
  • What is Toxoplasmosis?
    Although Toxoplasmosis can infect any warm-blooded animal it occurs quite frequently in kittens, young adult cats or very old ones. Cats frequently transmit Toxoplasma infection to humans, a process typically known as zoonosis.
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