| Picture | Title | Caption | Copyright |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii | Diagrammatic representation of the Toxoplasma gondii life cycle. | USDA | |
| Stages of Toxoplasma gondii | (a) Unsporulated oocyst in fecal float of cat feces. Unstained. Note double layered oocyst wall (arrow) enclosing a central undivided mass. (b) Sporulated oocyst with a thin oocyst wall (large arrow), 2 sporocysts (arrowheads). Each sporocyst has 4 sporozoites (small arrow), which are not in complete focus. Unstained. | USDA | |
| Stages of Toxoplasma gondii | (a) Schizont (arrow) with several merozoites (arrowheads) separating from the main mass. Impression smear of infected cat intestine. Giemsa stain. (b) A male gamete with two flagella (arrows). Impression smear of infected cat intestine. Giemsa stain. | USDA | |
| Stages of Toxoplasma gondii | (a) Tachyzoites in impression smear of lung. Note crescent-shaped individual tachyzoites (arrows), dividing tachyzoites (arrowheads) compared with size of host red blood cells and leukocytes. Giema stain. (b) Tissue cysts in section of muscle. The tissue cyst wall is very thin (arrow) and encloses many tiny bradyzoites (arrowheads). Hematoxylin and eosin stain. | USDA | |
| Stages of Toxoplasma gondii | Tissue cyst separated from host tissue by homogenization of infected brain. Note tissue cyst wall (arrow) and hundreds of bradyzoites (arrowheads). Unstained. | USDA |
Datasheet
Toxoplasma gondii
Index
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Top of pageTaxonomic Tree
Top of page- Domain: Eukaryota
- Kingdom: Protista
- Phylum: Protozoa
- Subphylum: Apicomplexa
- Order: Eucoccidiorida
- Family: Sarcocystidae
- Genus: Toxoplasma
- Species: Toxoplasma gondii
Distribution Table
Top of pageThe distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.
Last updated: 10 Jan 2020| Continent/Country/Region | Distribution | Last Reported | Origin | First Reported | Invasive | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Africa |
|||||||
| Botswana | Present | ||||||
| Cabo Verde | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Côte d'Ivoire | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Djibouti | Present | ||||||
| Eritrea | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Gabon | Present | ||||||
| Guinea | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Madagascar | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Mauritius | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Morocco | Present | ||||||
| Sudan | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Tunisia | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Uganda | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Zimbabwe | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
Asia |
|||||||
| China | Present | ||||||
| -Fujian | Present | ||||||
| -Gansu | Present | ||||||
| -Guangdong | Present | ||||||
| -Guangxi | Present | ||||||
| -Guizhou | Present | ||||||
| -Hainan | Present | ||||||
| -Heilongjiang | Present | ||||||
| -Hubei | Present | ||||||
| -Inner Mongolia | Present | ||||||
| -Shandong | Present | ||||||
| -Xinjiang | Present | ||||||
| -Zhejiang | Present | ||||||
| Georgia | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| India | Present | ||||||
| -Delhi | Present | ||||||
| -Jammu and Kashmir | Present | ||||||
| -Maharashtra | Present | ||||||
| -Tamil Nadu | Present | ||||||
| -Uttar Pradesh | Present | ||||||
| -West Bengal | Present | ||||||
| Indonesia | Present | ||||||
| Iran | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Iraq | Present | ||||||
| Israel | Present | ||||||
| Japan | Present | ||||||
| Jordan | Present | ||||||
| Kazakhstan | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Kuwait | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Malaysia | Present | ||||||
| -Peninsular Malaysia | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| -Sabah | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Myanmar | Present | ||||||
| North Korea | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Oman | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Philippines | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | Present | ||||||
| South Korea | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Sri Lanka | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Taiwan | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Thailand | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Turkmenistan | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| United Arab Emirates | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Uzbekistan | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Yemen | Present | ||||||
Europe |
|||||||
| Belarus | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Croatia | Present | ||||||
| Cyprus | Present | CAB Abstracts Data Mining | |||||
| Estonia | Present | ||||||
| Finland | Present | ||||||
| Germany | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Iceland | Present | ||||||
| Ireland | Present | ||||||
| Isle of Man | Present | ||||||
| Jersey | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Latvia | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Liechtenstein | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Lithuania | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Luxembourg | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Malta | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Moldova | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Netherlands | Present | ||||||
| Norway | Present | ||||||
| Portugal | Present | ||||||
| Romania | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Serbia and Montenegro | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Slovakia | Present | ||||||
| Slovenia | Present | ||||||
| Spain | Present | ||||||
| -Canary Islands | Present | ||||||
| Sweden | Present | ||||||
| Ukraine | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| United Kingdom | Present | ||||||
| -Northern Ireland | Present | ||||||
North America |
|||||||
| Barbados | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Bermuda | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| British Virgin Islands | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Canada | Present | ||||||
| -Alberta | Present | ||||||
| -British Columbia | Present | ||||||
| -Ontario | Present | ||||||
| -Quebec | Present | ||||||
| Cayman Islands | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Cuba | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Curaçao | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Dominica | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Dominican Republic | Present | ||||||
| Guatemala | Present | ||||||
| Haiti | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Jamaica | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Mexico | Present | ||||||
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| United States | Present, Serological evidence and/or isolation of the agent | ||||||
| -Alaska | Present | ||||||
| -California | Present | ||||||
| -Colorado | Present | ||||||
| -Florida | Present | ||||||
| -Georgia | Present | ||||||
| -Hawaii | Present | ||||||
| -Illinois | Present | ||||||
| -Iowa | Present | ||||||
| -Louisiana | Present | ||||||
| -Maryland | Present | ||||||
| -Massachusetts | Present | ||||||
| -Minnesota | Present | ||||||
| -Missouri | Present | ||||||
| -New Jersey | Present | ||||||
| -New York | Present | ||||||
| -North Carolina | Present | ||||||
| -Ohio | Present | ||||||
| -South Carolina | Present | ||||||
| -Tennessee | Present | ||||||
| -Texas | Present | ||||||
| -Washington | Present | ||||||
Oceania |
|||||||
| Australia | Present | ||||||
| -Northern Territory | Present | ||||||
| -Queensland | Present | ||||||
| -Tasmania | Present | ||||||
| -Victoria | Present | ||||||
| French Polynesia | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| New Caledonia | Present | ||||||
| New Zealand | Present | ||||||
| Vanuatu | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
South America |
|||||||
| Argentina | Present | ||||||
| Brazil | |||||||
| -Bahia | Present | ||||||
| -Ceara | Present | ||||||
| -Goias | Present | ||||||
| -Mato Grosso | Present | ||||||
| -Mato Grosso do Sul | Present | ||||||
| -Minas Gerais | Present | ||||||
| -Para | Present | ||||||
| -Parana | Present | ||||||
| -Pernambuco | Present | ||||||
| -Rio de Janeiro | Present | ||||||
| -Rio Grande do Sul | Present | ||||||
| -Sao Paulo | Present | ||||||
| Chile | Present | ||||||
| Falkland Islands | Present | ||||||
| Guyana | Absent, No presence record(s) | ||||||
| Paraguay | Present, Serological evidence and/or isolation of the agent | ||||||
| Peru | Present | ||||||
| Suriname | Present | ||||||
| Uruguay | Present | ||||||
Pathogen Characteristics
Top of pageThe name Toxoplasma (toxon = arc, plasma = form) is derived from the crescent shape of the tachyzoite stage. There are 3 infectious stages of T. gondii: the tachyzoites (in groups), the bradyzoites (in tissue cysts), and the sporozoites (in oocysts).
The tachyzoite is often crescent-shaped and is approximately the size (2 x 6 µm) of a red blood cell. The anterior end of the tachyzoite is pointed, and the posterior end is rounded. It has a pellicle (outer covering), several organelles including subpellicular microtubules, mitochondria, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, a Golgi apparatus, apicoplast, ribosomes, a micropore, and a well-defined nucleus. The nucleus is usually situated toward the central area of the cell.
Tissue cysts vary in size from 5-70 µm and remain intracellular. The tissue cyst wall is elastic, thin <0.5 µm), and may enclose hundreds of the crescent-shaped, slender T. gondii stage known as bradyzoites (Dubey et al., 1998). The bradyzoites are approximately 7 x 1.5 µm. Bradyzoites differ structurally only slightly from tachyzoites. They have a nucleus situated toward the posterior end whereas the nucleus in tachyzoites is more central. Bradyzoites are more slender than are tachyzoites and they are less susceptible to destruction by proteolytic enzymes than are tachyzoites.
In freshly passed faeces, oocysts are unsporulated (non-infective). Unsporulated oocysts are totally or nearly spherical and are 10 x 12 µm in diameter. They sporulate (become infectious) outside the cat within 1 to 5 days depending upon aeration and temperature. Sporulated oocysts contain two ellipsoidal sporocysts. Each sporocyst contains 4 sporozoites. The sporozoites are 2 x 6 to 8 µm in size.
Host Animals
Top of pageThreatened Species
Top of page| Threatened Species | Conservation Status | Where Threatened | Mechanism | References | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enhydra lutris kenyoni (northern sea otter) | USA ESA listing as threatened species | Alaska | Pathogenic | US Fish and Wildlife Service (2013) | |
| Enhydra lutris nereis (southern sea otter) | USA ESA listing as threatened species | California | Pathogenic | US Fish and Wildlife Service (2003) | |
| Monachus schauinslandi (Hawaiian monk seal) | EN (IUCN red list: Endangered); USA ESA listing as endangered species | USA; Hawaii | Pathogenic | National Marine Fisheries Service (2007) |
References
Top of pageOIE Handistatus, 2002. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2001). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties
OIE Handistatus, 2003. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2002). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties
OIE Handistatus, 2004. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (data set for 2003). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties
OIE Handistatus, 2005. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (data set for 2004). Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties
Distribution References
CABI Data Mining, 2001. CAB Abstracts Data Mining.,
CABI, Undated. CABI Compendium: Status as determined by CABI editor. Wallingford, UK: CABI
OIE Handistatus, 2005. World Animal Health Publication and Handistatus II (dataset for 2004)., Paris, France: Office International des Epizooties.
Distribution Maps
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