Parasite life cycles - Toxoplasma gondii

4 important questions on Parasite life cycles - Toxoplasma gondii

What type of parasite is toxoplasma?

Protozoa

Description of life cycle in nature

Unsporulated oocysts are shed in cat feces.
They sporulate in the environment and become infective.
Intermediate hosts in nature become infected after ingesting contaminated soil, water or plant material.
Shortly after ingestion the oocysts transform into tachyzoites.
These tachyzoites go to neural and muscle tissue and develop into tissue cysts, bradyziotes.
The cat gets infected when it consumes eg a bird with tissue cysts, or by ingesting sporulated oocysts.

Description of life cycle including human

Humans get infected with tissue cysts or oocysts when they
1) eat undercooked meat with tissue cysts,
2) consume water or food contaminated with cat feces or contaminated environment,
3) blood transfusion or organ transplantation,
4) mother to fetus.
In human, the parasite forms tissue cysts, mostly in skeletel tissue, myocardium, brain and eyes.
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How can toxoplasma be diagnosed

Serology (routine method), PCR (congenital)

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