Toxoplasmosis - Plain and Simple

Get to know toxoplasmosis with a smile on your face!

A few notes:
(Watch the video first or you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about.)
• Don’t mistake Toxoplasma for Toxocara. The latter is a common parasitic roundworm.
• Dogs can’t infect people with toxoplasmosis unless you eat their raw meat! They can only act as intermediate hosts which means that they never shed oocysts in their feces.
• Fecal examination is not a very helpful tool when it comes to screening cats for toxoplasmosis. Since the duration of shedding oocysts is so short, you’ll likely get a negative result which will leave you in the dark regarding the toxoplasma status of the animal. Furthermore, there are other harmless parasites producing very similar looking oocysts, that when present, give a false positive result.
• The things said about feline AIDS can be applied to people and HIV as well. Toxoplasmosis is one of the infections that can give AIDS-patients a very hard time.
• When talking about „messed up” immunity I should also mention „low” immunitiy against toxoplasma specifically. If a cat acquires a natural infection but isn’t exposed to toxoplasma again for a long time (years), its protection can decline. This does not lead to cysts activating or spontaneous reshedding of oocysts but in case of a brand new infection, some cats may produce a low number of oocysts. The level of anti-toxoplasma immunity can also be measured with the blood test.

More information on toxoplasmosis:

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/brochure_toxo.cfm
For pet owners.

The Merck Veterinary Manual Online:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/generalized_conditions/toxoplasmosis/overview_of_toxoplasmosis.html
For veterinarians.

The Merck Manual Online:
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/infectious_diseases/extraintestinal_protozoa/toxoplasmosis.html?qt=toxoplasmosis&alt=sh
For doctors.

Center for Food Security and Public Health (Iowa State University):
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/toxoplasmosis.pdf

Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Humans, Second Edition, by J. P. Dubey, 2010, CRC Press
It’s an actual book with paper and ink and all. Only for those who want to know more about toxoplasmosis than anyone in the world except J. P. Dubey.

My special thanks goes to:
Éva Fok for making sure that I didn’t make a fool out of myself at any point.
_____________________________________
I used the following media not created by me:

SFX from freesounnd.org:

Under the Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode):

Swoosh 4.wav (by user Benboncan)
http://www.freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/74691/

storm door slam 02.wav (by user volivieri)
http://www.freesound.org/people/volivieri/sounds/161189/

Psynte(.mp3) (by user keplar) - excerpt
http://www.freesound.org/people/keplar/sounds/130592/

Under the Creative Commons 0 Lincence (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode:

censor.wav (by user zombie_expert)
http://www.freesound.org/people/zombie_expert/sounds/192765/

Car by Med Smart Car DonFX.wav (by user Donmann)
http://www.freesound.org/people/Donmann/sounds/233465/

punch.wav (by user Ekokubza123)
http://www.freesound.org/people/Ekokubza123/sounds/104183/

Bodyfall(.mp3) (by user Celticvalkyria)
http://www.freesound.org/people/Celticvalkyria/sounds/240665/

coocoo clock chime.wav (by user photogtony)
http://www.freesound.org/people/photogtony/sounds/242007/

Видео Toxoplasmosis - Plain and Simple канала Else-Vet