Toxoplasma gondii

Images:

Brain cyst:
http://www.k-state.edu/parasitology/625tutorials/Cysts01.html
Live brain cyst:
http://www.k-state.edu/parasitology/625tutorials/Apicomplexa05.html

Toxoplasma gondii is a risk factor for congenital defects, e.g. hydrocephaly. Image from Moore and Persaud (2003. The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. Saunders, An Imprint of Elsevier Science, ISBN 0-7216-9412-8, Philadelphia, PA.

Phylogeny:
Subphylum Apicomplexa

Preferred definitive host:
Domestic cats, Puma, Ocelot, bobcat, Jaguarundi

Reservoir hosts:Technically none, but cockroaches, flies and leeches serve as transport hosts.

Vector/intermediate host: Humans, Domestic animals such as sheep, wild animals such as sheep, insectivores, rodents, pigs, herbivores.

 Geographical location:
Cosmopolitan

Organs affected:
Lymph glands, lung, liver, heart, brain, eyes. Toxoplasma can pass through the placental barrier and affect the developing fetus.

 Symptoms and clinical signs:
Among adult humans, it can cause fever, headache, muscle pain, anemia, spastic paralysis, blindness, myocarditis, permanent heart damage. Infection among pregnant women may cause stillbirths or spontaneous abortions. Congenital conditions include hydrocephalus, microcephaly, cerebral calcification, chorioretinitis and psychomotor disturbances.

Treatment:
Pyrimethamine with trisulfapyrimidines.