Toxoplasma gondii is an extremely successful protozoal parasite which infects almost all mammalian species including humans. Approximately 30 per cent of the human population worldwide is chronically infected with T gondii. In general, human infection is asymptomatic but the parasite may induce severe disease in fetuses and immunocompromised patients. In addition, T gondii may cause sight-threatening posterior uveitis in immunocompetent patients. Apart from few exceptions, humans acquire T gondii from animals. Both the oral uptake of T gondii oocysts released by specific hosts, ie felidae, and of cysts persisting in muscle cells of animals result in human toxoplasmosis. In the present review, we discuss recent new data on the cell biology of T gondii and parasite diversity in animals. In addition, we focus on the impact of these various parasite strains and their different virulence on the clinical outcome of human congenital toxoplasmosis and T gondii uveitis. The study is from the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Infection Control and Prevention, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany; Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany; Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany; Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center, Göttingen, Germany; and Eye Clinic, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
Schlüter D, Däubener W, Schares G, et al. Int J Med Microbiol 2014 Sep 10[Epub ahead of print].