TOXOPLASMOSIS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
THERE are many potential sources of Toxoplasma infection in nature, but it is not known which is most important for man. The disease occurs in many species of animals and birds, including the rabbit, gondi, dog, mole, pigeon, mouse, rat, squirrel, monkey, guinea pig, wombat, baboon, vole, canary, chimpanzee, sheep, cat, and chinchilla. Twenty-seven fatal cases of toxoplasmosis (13 mammals and 14 birds) over a 10-year period were reported from the Philadelphia zoo.1Recently, we reported the isolation of Toxoplasma from swine, thus extending the host range to a new species.2 The organism, Toxoplasma gondii, causing animal infection, is morphologically, antigenically, and pathogenically similar to the organism causing the disease in man. Various animal reservoirs have been suggested as potential sources of human infections.3More evidence is needed to substantiate the belief that animals serve as thereservoir for human toxoplasmosis. If animals are important in the epidemiology of human