Recent epidemiologic and clinical importance of Toxoplasma gondii infections in marine mammals: 2009-2020.

Vet Parasitol

Molecular Parasitology Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20895, USA.

Published: December 2020

Toxoplasma gondii infections are common in humans and animals worldwide. T. gondii causes mortality in several species of marine mammals, including threatened Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and endangered Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi). Marine mammals are now considered sentinels for environmental exposure to protozoan agents contaminating marine waters, including T. gondii oocysts. Marine mammals also serve as food for humans and can result in foodborne T. gondii infections in humans. The present review summarizes worldwide information on the prevalence of clinical and subclinical infections, epidemiology, and genetic diversity of T. gondii infecting marine mammals in the past decade. The role of genetic types of T. gondii and clinical disease is discussed.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2020.109296DOI Listing

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