Toxoplasmosis
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What is the disease?
Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease, which is a one-celled protozoan parasite. It is found in humans worldwide and in many species of animals and birds. It affects 10 to 20 out of every 100 people in the United States. It occurs to 40% of the people with AIDS. But immigrants from Africa, Latin America, and Haiti are four times more likely to get this disease.
The parasite of Toxoplasmosis lives in animal feces and soil. The cell is called Toxoplasma gondii. Cats are the primary carriers of the organism, and it becomes infected when it eats rodents and birds infected with the organism. The organism reproduces millions of eggs called oocysts. This parasite is similar to the virus that causes malaria. It is also one of the most common human parasites in the world. This parasite was first discovered in a North American rodent. In the U.S., about 30% of the cats are affected with the cell. This disease is very serious in individuals with weak immune systems. More than 60 million people in the United States are affected with Toxoplasmosis, but very few people show symptoms because their immune system is able to fight them off. Toxoplasmosis is also the most common type of an infection to affect the central nervous system.
How does a person get infected?
People can get infected with Toxoplasmosis by putting your hands to you rmouth after gardening or cleaning you¡¯re a cat litter box, touching anything that has come in contact with cat feces. Another way to get it is if you breathe in dust or by eating not fully cooked or raw meat. And if you¡¯re pregnant with a baby and you are infected with Toxoplasmosis, then there is a very high chance that your baby will get the disease too. 3,330 infants in the United States gets Toxoplasmosis every year. And the rarest way you can get the disease is by organ transplantation or transfusion.
Symptoms
Many people who are infected with Toxoplasmosis do not usually sho...