Toxoplasmosis: Overview from a One-Health prospective

Authors: DJURKOVIC-DJAKOVIC, OLGCIA - University Of Belgrade; DUPOUY-CAMET, JEAN - Universite Paris Descartes; VAN DER GIESSEN, JOKE - National Institute For Public Health And The Environment (RIVM); Dubey, Jitender

Submitted to: Food and Waterborne Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/3/2019
Publication Date: 6/1/2019
Citation: Djurkovic-Djakovic, O., Dupouy-Camet, J., Van Der Giessen, J., Dubey, J.P. 2019. Toxoplasmosis: Overview from a One-Health prospective. Food and Waterborne Parasitology. 15:e00054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fawpar.2019.e00054.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fawpar.2019.e00054

Interpretive Summary: Toxoplasmosis, caused by the single celled parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, continues to be a public health problem worldwide. This parasite infects all warm-blooded hosts, including humans. It causes mental retardation and loss of vision in children, and abortion in livestock. The ingestion of food and water contaminated with resistant stage of the parasite, the oocyst, is a major mode of transmission of this parasite. Of all the hosts infected, only cats are known to excrete oocysts in feces. Cats can excrete millions of oocysts after eating an infected prey, such as a mouse or a bird. Oocysts can survive outdoors for months and they are highly infectious to humans. Prevention of T. gondii infection in food animals is essential for reducing infection in humans. In this paper, the authors discuss prevention of toxoplasmosis in humans and animals. The paper will be of interest to biologists, public health workers and parasitologists.

Technical Abstract: Toxoplasmosis is paradigmatic for the One Health approach as the causative parasite Toxoplasma gondii infects virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans. This makes T. gondii one of the most successful organisms on Earth, infecting up to a third of the global human population. Moreover, the T. gondii disease burden has been ranked the third highest on the European level. To reduce the disease burden of toxoplasmosis in humans, interventions are needed in the animal reservoirs and therefore close collaboration between the medical and veterinary sectors are needed. In this special issue of FAWPAR, several most pertinent topics related to the impact and control of toxoplasmosis are addressed by some of the leading experts in the field. This collection of papers provides state-of-the-art knowledge, along with knowledge gaps and future perspectives, while presenting the benefits of the current (and/or advocating for future) activities to tackle toxoplasmosis within the One Health context.