Toxoplasmosis is caused by the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. According to the CDC, toxoplasmosis is considered the third leading cause of death attributable to foodborne illness in the United States. Most people who are infected are not aware they have it. And most healthy people recover from the infection without treatment.
The Toxoplasma gondii parasite forms tissues cysts that may remain inside a person throughout their life, often without causing symptoms. Millions of people carry the parasite in an inactive state, but it may be reactivated if the immune system is weakened.
Toxoplasmosis can be particularly harmful to pregnant women and newborn infants. An infection during the first trimester of pregnancy when the fetus’s central nervous system is being formed can be fatal. Some experts say it’s responsible for about 80 infant deaths a year.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2010
