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Veterinary vaccines against toxoplasmosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2014

ELŻBIETA HISZCZYŃSKA-SAWICKA ,
JUSTYNA M. GATKOWSKA ,
MARCIN M. GRZYBOWSKI  and
HENRYKA DŁUGOŃSKA
ELŻBIETA HISZCZYŃSKA-SAWICKA
Affiliation:
AgResearch, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch, New Zealand
JUSTYNA M. GATKOWSKA
Affiliation:
Department of Immunoparasitology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha St. 12/16, Poland
MARCIN M. GRZYBOWSKI
Affiliation:
Department of Immunoparasitology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha St. 12/16, Poland
HENRYKA DŁUGOŃSKA*
Affiliation:
Department of Immunoparasitology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha St. 12/16, Poland
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Immunoparasitology, University of Łódź, Banacha St. 12/16, Poland. E-mail: hdlugo@biol.uni.lodz.pl
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Summary

Toxoplasma gondii is a cosmopolitan protozoan parasite that infects a wide range of mammal and bird species. Common infection leads to high economic (e.g. abortions in sheep) and human (e.g. congenital toxoplasmosis or neurotoxoplasmosis in humans) losses. With one exception (Toxovax™ for sheep), there are no vaccines to prevent human or animal toxoplasmosis. The paper presents the current state and challenges in the development of a vaccine against toxoplasmosis, designed for farm animals either bred for consumption or commonly kept on farms and involved in parasite transmission. So far, the trials have mostly revolved around conventional vaccines and, compared with the research using laboratory animals (mainly mice), they have not been very numerous. However, the results obtained are promising and could be a good starting point for developing an effective vaccine to prevent toxoplasmosis.

Keywords

T. gondiivaccinefarm animals
Type
Special Issue Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 141 , Special Issue 11: ApiCOWplexa 2013 – 2nd International Meeting on Apicomplexan Parasites in Farm Animals , September 2014 , pp. 1365 - 1378
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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