Toxoplasmosis, caused by TOXOPLASMA GONDII (T. GONDII), is an economically important disease of livestock, especially sheep and goats, where it can cause early embryonic death and resorption, fetal death and mummification, abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death.Cats are the main reservoir for the toxoplasmosis which can contaminate the environments of other animal and human beings by their faeces that contain sporulated oocysts. Toxoplasmosis is diagnosed mainly by direct smear, Immunohistochemistry, serology testing and PCR. Preventive measures include education of the farmers, reduce environmental contamination by oocysts, reducing the number of cats capable of shedding oocysts, limiting the breeding of cats to maintain healthy adults, control of future breeding and adequate continuous control programs of stray cats. Feeding cats with commercial diets or with food processed either by cooking or freezing can reduce the risk of disease transmission. A live vaccine (Toxovax®) is commercially marketed in some countries for reducing losses to the sheep industry from congenital toxoplasmosis. History, Life cycle, Clinical signs, Diagnosis, Mode of transmission, Epidemiology, Treatment, Control, Prevention and Vaccination against T. GONDII infection in small animals have been reviewed in this article.

Background: Cat as definitive host of TOXOPLASMA GONDII is important in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. The object of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. GONDII as well as parasite isolation from faeces and brain tissues of stray cats in Kashan, central Iran.Methods: The prevalence of T. GONDII was determined in serum, feces and brain tissue of 50 stray cats. IgG specific antibody to T. GONDII was assessed by indirect fluorecent antibody test (IFAT).Results: Overall infection rate was 86% in 1:20 to1:640 titers. The highest percentage (22%) was for 1:160 and the least (6%) were for 1: 640. T. GONDII tissue cyst isolated from 2(4%) cats by bioassay in mice. No oocysts detected from cat stool by direct and concentration methods.Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence of T. GONDII in stray cats is high in Kashan region.

Objectives: With reference to the hypothesis of association between central nervous system infections and schizophrenia, in this study the relationship between TOXOPLASMA GONDII infections and schizophrenia was studied. Method: In this case-control study, the serums of 104 inpatient schizophrenic patients admitted to 22 Bahman Hospital in Qazvin, Iran and 114 matched control subjects were examined. IgG and IgM specific antibodies to TOXOPLASMA GONDII were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were analyzed using c2 test, t-test and Fisher exact test. Results: 55.3% of the cases and 50.9% of the controls were seropositive for IgG specific antibodies to TOXOPLASMA GONDII; and the differences were not statistically significant. The proportion of seropositive subjects was significantly lower in the first-episode patients (33.3%) than those in the next episodes (59.8%) (P<0.05). Moreover, 14.6% of the cases and 20% of the controls were seropositive for IgM specific antibodies to TOXOPLASMA GONDII. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: An epidemiological association between TOXOPLASMA GONDII infections and schizophrenia was not observed.

Infection by the protozoan parasite TOXOPLASMA GONDII, is widespread in humans and many other species of warmblooded animals. It can cause significant morbidity and mortality in the developing fetus and in immunocompromised individuals, including humans with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - AIDS or submitted to cancer chemotherapy. Among livestock, sheep and goat are more widely infected with T. GONDII. This parasite is a major cause of abortion, with significant economic losses to sheep and goat breeders. We applied the polymerase chain reaction for detection of the pathogenic protozoan T. GONDII based on its B1 gene. The B1 gene is present and conserved in all six T. GONDII strains identified to date. For this purpose blood samples were collected from a total of 372 animals (144 dog, 7 cat, 126 horse, 50 cattle and 45 sheep) from Urmia region. In this study, PCR was performed using the previously described primers (Fuentes et al., 1996) (10), which were designed to detect the B1 gene of T. GONDII. The targeted B1 gene is highly conserved in all T. GONDII strains and is multiple copy genes within the T. GONDII genome. The method used for the characterization of T. GONDII strains implied digestion with SacI restriction enzyme of the fragments amplified. The results indicated 3 positive samples (2 horse and 1 sheep samples). The 194 bp fragment was generated in all positive samples tested and one RFLP patterns were obtained. The results indicated that the same strain of T. GONDII has been infected sheep and horse in the study region.

TOXOPLASMA GONDII is an obligatory intracellular protozoan which can infect broad spectrum of warm blooded animals as intermediate hosts. Cats are definitive hosts. Seroprevalence of this parasite among birds is an effective criterion for environmental contamination to TOXOPLASMA oocysts. In this research, T. GONDII Immunoglobulin G (IgG) were detected by ELISA in 168 broilers sera which were referred to Semnan industrial abattoir and 30 freerange chicken sera which were collected from different places in Semnan. 39. 9% of broilers and 96. 7% of free-range chickens were positive in TOXOPLASMA IgG antibody. There was significant difference between two different groups in Chi-square test (P<0. 0001). According to the results, seroprevalence of TOXOPLASMA is relatively high among chickens in Semnan. In free-range chickens, soil contamination to the parasite oocysts and in broilers some management problems and cat access as a definitive host to the water and food supply of chickens can effective on high prevalence of the infection.

Background & Aims: Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic infections in humans and other warm-blooded animals. One of the major problems of toxoplasmosis is its therapeutic limitation. The main treatment for this infection is the synergistic combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, though pyrimethamine is contraindicated in pregnant women owing to its teratogenicity. Considering many side effects that this parasite poses to immunocompromised individuals and pregnant women, the production of anti-TOXOPLASMA drugs with high efficacy and low side effects is therefore the main objective of TOXOPLASMA research. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of chitosan and ethanolic extract of Dracocephalum kotschyi on TOXOPLASMA GONDII tachyzoites in RH strains under in vitro condition. Materials & Methods: RH strains of TOXOPLASMA GONDII tachyzoites with the concentrations of 45, 90, and 135 mg / ml of Zarrin-Giah ethanolic extract and concentrations of 150, 300, and 600 mg / ml of chitosan, as well as components of these concentrations were evaluated. They were then compared with the positive control drug (pyrimethamine) and negative control at 24, 48, and 72 hours incubation periods, separately and also by Trypan blue staining and MTT. The lethality percentage of the extract and chitosan was assessed and compared with dead tachyzoites. All stages were evaluated by triple control. Results: Following 48-hour incubation using Trypan blue test, the concentrations of 135 mg / ml of D. kotschyi, 600 mg / ml of chitosan, and 90 extracts with 150 mg / ml of chitosan were examined. Concentrations of 500 mg / ml of control drug with lethality percentage were 50. 9, 77. 2, 88. 3, and 95. 2, and ELISA results of MTT test with ODs of 0. 098, 0. 087 0. 064, and 0. 048 showed acceptable results. After 72 hours, more than 80% of TOXOPLASMA tachyzoites were destroyed. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that chitosan extract, especially its combination with D. kotschyi extract, showed more promising results relative to the positive control drug, pyrimethamine, and the negative control. Moreover, the cytotoxic effects were maximum when these two drugs were used simultaneously.