Recent Advances in Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Toxoplasmosis

Dear Colleagues,

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which affects practically all warm-blooded animals, including humans, domestic animals, and terrestrial and marine wild animals. Susceptible hosts can be infected by T. gondii through the following primary forms: transplacental transmission, ingestion of animal tissues containing infective cysts, and the ingestion of water and food contaminated with cat feces containing sporulated oocysts. Toxoplasma gondii has a complex, facultatively heteroxenous life cycle that involves several stages of development and a range of hosts and environments. In humans, toxoplasmosis is often subclinical in immunocompetent adults; however, in immunosuppressed individuals, it can cause encephalitis and retinochoroiditis. In pregnant women, the parasite can be transmitted to the fetus, causing miscarriage or the development of chorioretinitis, intracranial calcifications and hydrocephalus in the fetus. In animals, T. gondii is responsible for causing miscarriage, fetal mummification, stillbirth and congenital disease, leading to economic losses and increasing production costs. It can also occur subclinically in immunocompetent animals. This characteristic, in addition to making diagnosis difficult, puts human health at risk since it allows the presence of chronically infected animals and facilitates the slaughter of infected animals for human consumption. The consumption of raw or undercooked meat and raw milk is a source of infection for humans. Because of this, it is important to know the spread of this protozoan, which can be identified through seroprevalence surveys. Furthermore, the description of the genetic variability of T. gondii with genotypic characterization studies is also very important for understanding its pathogenicity and virulence. The importance of this genetic knowledge is justified to try to establish a relationship between the genotype and the clinical manifestations, as well as possible associations such as the biological potential of the species, virulence, infectivity, and drug and vaccine resistance. With this Special Issue, we wish to invite our colleagues to submit original manuscripts, research papers, and meta-analyses to build a systematic collection of the available knowledge about T. gondii infection and toxoplasmosis.

Dr. Vinicius Longo Ribeiro Vilela
Dr. Thais Ferreira Feitosa
Guest Editors

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• coccidia
• diagnosis
• one health
• oocysts
• protozoozis
• tachyzoites