Toxoplasma Gondii

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Toxoplasma Gondii

• What is Toxoplasmosis?Toxoplasmosis is the cause
  of the disease toxoplasma gondii, a single celled
  parasite, that is found in cat feces.(Toxoplasmos
  is is found in hosts like cats, sheep, humans,
  mice, and rats.)

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Symptoms for toxoplasmosis

• In healthy children and adults,
  toxoplasmosis may cause no symptoms at all, or
  may cause a mild illness (swollen lymph glands,
  fever, headache, and muscle aches) 5-23 days
  after exposure. However, Toxoplasmosis is a very
  severe infection for unborn babies and for people
  with immune system disorders.Unborn babies
  catch this parasite from their mother if the
  mother is infected during pregnancy, especially
  during the first three months. Unborn babies are
  at risk of severe infection that may result in
  mental retardation, blindness, or death. People
  who have had toxoplasmosis in the past and then
  develop problems with their immune systems (such
  as AIDS) can have severe infections of the brain
  that may lead to death. Infections can be treated
  with antibiotics.

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Where it is found

• A Toxoplasma infection occurs by
• Eating undercooked, contaminated meat (especially
  pork, lamb, and venison).
• Accidental ingestion of undercooked, contaminated
  meat after handling it an not washing hands
  thoroughly (Toxoplasma cannot be absorbed through
  intact skin).
• Eating food that was contaminated by knives,
  utensils, cutting boards and other foods that
  have had contact with raw, contaminated meat.
• Drinking water contaminated with Toxoplasma
  gondii.
• Accidentally swallowing the parasite through
  contact with cat feces that contain Toxoplasma.
  This might happen by
• cleaning a cat's litter box when the cat has shed
  Toxoplasma in its feces
• touching or ingesting anything that has come into
  contact with cat feces that contain Toxoplasma
• accidentally ingesting contaminated soil (e.g.,
  not washing hands after gardening or eating
  unwashed fruits or vegetables from a garden)
• Mother-to-child (congenital) transmission.
• Receiving an infected organ transplant or
  infected blood via transfusion, though this is
  rare.

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How to treat toxoplasmosis

• Pyrimethamine an anti-malarial medication.
• Sulfadiazine an antibiotic used in combination
  with pyrimethamine to treat toxoplasmosis.
  Clindamycin an antibiotic used most often for
  people with HIV/AIDS.
• Spiramycin an antibiotic used most often for
  pregnant women to prevent the infection of their
  child. .

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How to prevent toxoplasmosis

• All this can be prevented if you
• Store food in the refrigerator (40 F or below)
  or freezer (0 F or below).
• Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature.
  
• Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops
  may be cooked to 145 F.
• All cuts of pork to 160 F.
• Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 F.
• All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal
  temperature of 165 F.
• Maintain hot cooked food at 140 F or above.
• When reheating cooked food, reheat to 165 F

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Statistics

• Toxoplasmosis is considered to be the third
  leading cause of death attributed to foodborne
  illness in the United States. More than 60
  million men, women, and children in the U.S.
  carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have
  symptoms because the immune system usually keeps
  the parasite from causing illness.

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cites

• http//www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/pathog
  ens/index.cfm?articleID46parent37
• www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/Ask_Karen
  /index.aspQuestion
• http//www.cdc.gov/toxoplasmosis/factsheet.html