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Medical Author:

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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In this Article

• Toxoplasmosis facts
• What is toxoplasmosis?
• What is the cause of toxoplasmosis?
• What factors increase the risk of acquiring toxo?
• What are the usual symptoms of toxoplasmosis?
• Why do some people develop severe problems from toxo?
• Can toxoplasmosis develop into a more serious illness in babies?
• What is meant by a baby developing "a more severe case of toxo"?
• How is toxo diagnosed in the lab?
• How can toxoplasmosis be prevented?
• Am I able to keep my cat?
• Once infected with toxo, is my cat always able to spread the infection to me?
• What is the treatment for toxoplasmosis?
• What is the prognosis for toxoplasmosis?
• Patient Comments: Toxoplasmosis - Symptoms
• Toxoplasmosis Index

The following situations potentially expose a person to the Toxoplasma parasite and increase the risk of acquiring toxoplasmosis:

• Touching your hands to your mouth after gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, or anything that came into contact with cat feces
• Eating raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison
• Using utensils or cutting boards that have not been properly cleaned after they have had contact with raw meat
• Drinking raw goat's milk
• Touching your hands to your mouth after contact with raw or undercooked meat
• Organ transplantation or transfusion (this is rare)

If a woman is pregnant when she is infected with toxo, the infection can be transmitted to the baby with sometimes catastrophic consequences.

Although people infected with toxoplasmosis are often unaware of having this disease, typical symptoms of toxo are flulike symptoms, including swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches and pains that last from a few days to several weeks. If your immune system is normal, you cannot get the infection again.

Few people with toxo develop symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness. However, anyone with a compromised immune system is at risk for serious problems from toxo. These individuals include those undergoing chemotherapy, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune disorders, and recent organ-transplant recipients.

In these people, an infection that occurred anytime during life can reactivate and cause the severe symptoms of toxoplasmosis such as damage to the eye, brain, or other organs.

Ocular toxoplasmosis, which damages the eyes, can lead to reduced vision, blurred vision, pain (often with bright light), redness of the eye, and sometimes tearing, according to the CDC.