Chart: 6 zoonoses you should know -- Toxoplasmosis

Common disease name

Toxoplasmosis

(Toxoplasmosis involves a protozoon parasite that infects virtually all warm-blooded vertebrates.)

Scientific name

Toxoplasma gondii

Method of infection

Cats: Ingestion of oocysts in feces, ingestion of tissues of intermediate host (e.g. rodents)

People: Ingestion of uncooked meat, exposure to infected cat feces (food, water, soil); usually not from shedding cat. Oocysts must sporulate in the environment before becoming infective.

Signs

Cats: Rarely causes clinical signs, but may cause lymphadenitis, encephalitis, coughing, dyspnea, weight loss, and lethargy

People: Rarely causes clinical signs, but may cause flu-like symptoms; in people with deficient immune responses it can lead to death, congenital malformation, or mental retardation

Treatment

There are no approved treatments, but clindamycin hydrochloride, pyrimethamine and a sulfonamide, and a trimethoprim-sulfonamide combination have been used with success.

People most at risk

Everyone is at risk, but especially immunosuppressed people, including pregnant women, fetuses, and children

Prevention

• Keep cats indoors to prevent ingestion of infected animals and feces.

• Avoid feeding uncooked meats or viscera to cats.

• Remove feces from litter box daily.

• Wash litter boxes with scalding water or steam.

• Allow only immunocompetent, nonpregnant people to clean litter boxes.

• Wash hands thoroughly after exposure to soil, sand, raw meats, and unwashed vegetables.

• Wear gloves when gardening.

• Cover children's sandboxes when not in use.