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Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. It infects most animals and causes human parasitic diseases, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. People usually get infected by eating raw or undercooked meat, or more rarely, by contact with cat faeces. more...

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At least one third of the world population may have contracted a toxoplasmosis infection in their lifetime but, after the acute infection has passed, the parasite rarely causes any symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. However, people with a weakened immune system are particularly susceptible, such as people infected with HIV. The parasite can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and neurologic diseases and can affect the heart, liver, and eyes (chorioretinitis).

Transmission

Transmission may occur through:

  • Ingestion of raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison, or by hand to mouth contact after handling undercooked meat. Infection prevalence is higher in countries that traditionally eat undercooked meat, such as France. This seems to be by far the most common route of infection.
  • Accidental ingestion of contaminated cat faeces. This can occur through hand to mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, children's sandpits, or touching anything that has come into contact with cat faeces.
  • Contamination of knives, utensils, cutting boards and other foods that have had contact with raw meat.
  • Drinking water contaminated with Toxoplasma.
  • Ingestion of raw or unpasteurized milk and milk products, particularly those containing goat's milk.
  • The reception of an infected organ transplant or blood transfusion, although this is extremely rare.

The cyst form of the parasite is extremely hardy, capable of surviving exposure to cooling down to subzero temperatures and chemical disinfectants such as bleach and can survive in the environment for over a year. It is, however, susceptible to high temperatures, and is killed by cooking. Cats excrete the pathogen for a number of weeks or months after contracting the disease, generally by eating an infected rodent. Even then, cat faeces are not generally contagious for the first day or two after excretion, after which the cyst 'ripens' and becomes potentially pathogenic.

Although the pathogen has been detected on the fur of cats, the pathogen has not been found in a 'ripe' form, and direct infection from handling cats is generally believed to be very rare.

Pregnancy precautions

Congenital toxoplasmosis is a special form in which an unborn child is infected via the placenta. This is the reason that pregnant women should be checked to see if they have a titer to toxoplasmosis. A titer indicates previous exposure and largely ensures the unborn baby's safety. If a woman receives her first exposure to Toxoplasma while pregnant then the baby is at particular risk. A woman with no previous exposure should avoid handling raw meat, exposure to cat faeces, and gardening (a common place to find cat faeces). Most cats are not actively shedding oocysts and so are not a danger, but the risk may be reduced further by having the litterbox emptied daily (oocysts require longer than a single day to become infective), and/or by having someone else empty the litterbox.

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Reactive and Inflammatory Lymphadenopathies : A reference image Atlas with a detailed table of contents (CD-ROM Atlas of Pathology) $102.60 Efecto de extractos de artropodos sobre la multiplicacion del Toxoplasma gondii dentro de macrofagos peritoneales de raton. : An article from: Revista de Biología Tropical $5.95
Researchers urge prenatal screening for toxoplasmosis.(Obstetrics ) : An article from: OB GYN News $5.95

Toxoplasmosis in pregnancy
What is toxoplasmosis? Toxoplasmosis (say: tox-oh-plas-MOH-sis) is an infection caused by a parasite. This parasite lives in the intestines of cats ...
Congenital toxoplasmosis
Approximately 85 percent of women of childbearing age in the United States are susceptible to acute infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Transmission of T. gondii to the fetus ca
Toxoplasmosis - Information from Your Family Doctor
What is toxoplasmosis, and how do you get it? Toxoplasmosis (say: tox-oh-plaz-moh-sis) is an infection caused by a tiny parasite. You would need a ...
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by the one-celled protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Although most individuals do not experience ...
STANDARDIZATION AND USES OF IgG ANTIBODIES AVIDITY ASSAYS IN THE LABORATORIAL DIAGNOSIS OF ANIMAL TOXOPLASMOSIS
MEIRELES, Luciana Regina - Padronização e aplicaçães da avidez de anticorpos IgG no diagnóstico laboratorial da toxoplasmose animal. Sõo Paulo, 2005. (Tese de doutoramento - Instituto de Ciências Bio
Researchers urge prenatal screening for toxoplasmosis
All pregnant women should undergo screening for Toxoplasma gondii infection once each trimester, and all newborns should be screened for congenital toxoplasmosis, Kenneth M. Boyer, M.D., and collea
Congenital toxoplasmosis: systematic review of evidence of efficacy of treatment in pregnancy
It is not certain whether or not treating women for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy actually reduces the risk of transmitting the disease to the newborn.
Commentary: Congenital toxoplasmosis—further thought for food
Congenital toxoplasmosis is an established cause of intrauterine death and severe neonatal disease. Later effects of this infection include learning ...

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