Molecules to modeling: Toxoplasma gondii oocysts at the human-animal-environment interface

Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2012 Dec 3. pii: S0147-9571(12)00120-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2012.10.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Molecules to modeling: Toxoplasma gondii oocysts at the human-animal-environment interface

Vanwormer E, Fritz H, Shapiro K, Mazet JA, Conrad PA.

One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States. Electronic address: evanwormer@ucdavis.edu.

Environmental transmission of extremely resistant Toxoplasma gondii oocysts has resulted in infection of diverse species around the world, leading to severe disease and deaths in human and animal populations. This review explores T. gondii oocyst shedding, survival, and transmission, emphasizing the importance of linking laboratory and landscape from molecular characterization of oocysts to watershed-level models of oocyst loading and transport in terrestrial and aquatic systems. Building on discipline-specific studies, a One Health approach incorporating tools and perspectives from diverse fields and stakeholders has contributed to an advanced understanding of T. gondii and is addressing transmission at the rapidly changing human-animal-environment interface.

PMID: 23218130 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]