page_title: Toxoplasma gondii
section_title: Lifecycle
hierarchical_section_title: Toxoplasma gondii / Lifecycle
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Životní cyklus T. gondii. English: This is an illustration of the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii, the causal agent of toxoplasmosis. Español: Ciclo vital de Toxoplasma gondii: el gato es el huésped definitivo (1) (donde el parásito se reproduce), el gato se infecta e infesta a otros animales por los ooquistes tisulares. El hombre se infecta consumiendo ooquistes liberados con las heces (3) o bien al ingerir carne contaminada con ooquistes tisulares (2).
context_page_description: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasitic one-celled eukaryote that causes the infectious disease toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as domestic cats, are the only known definitive hosts in which the parasite may undergo sexual reproduction.
  In humans, T. gondii is one of the most common parasites in developed countries; serological studies estimate that 30–50% of the global population has been exposed to and may be chronically infected with T. gondii, although infection rates differ significantly from country to country. For example, estimates have shown the highest prevalence of persons infected to be in France, at 84%, as at 2000. Although mild, flu-like symptoms occasionally occur during the first few weeks following exposure, infection with T. gondii produces no readily observable symptoms in healthy human adults.
context_section_description: The lifecycle of T. gondii may be broadly summarized into two components: a sexual component that occurs only within cats (felids, wild or domestic), and an asexual component that can occur within virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans, cats, and birds. Because T. gondii can sexually reproduce only within cats, cats are therefore the definitive host of T. gondii. All other hosts – in which only asexual reproduction can occur – are intermediate hosts.
caption: Lifecycle of Toxoplasma gondii
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