Toxoplasma Gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a species of parasitic protozoa in the genus Toxoplasma.

The definitive host of T. gondii is the cat, but the parasite can be carried by many warm-blooded animals (birds or mammals, including humans). Toxoplasmosis, the disease of which T. gondii is the causative agent, is usually minor and self-limiting but can have serious or even fatal effects on a fetus whose mother first contracts the disease during pregnancy or on an immunocompromised human or cat. Around a third of people worldwide carry the parasite, with most catching it by consuming undercooked meat, especially lamb, pork and venison or by ingesting water, soil or anything contaminated by feline feces.

According to Merck the standard drug to counter infection is pyrimethamine, but most immunocompetent asymptomatic people infected with T. gondii, with the exception of neonates and pregnant women, require no treatment though recent studies have indicated an influence of T. gondii on suicidal behaviours in humans which — if widely confirmed — might warrant treatment attention.