Improving diagnostics for toxoplasmosis to support public health interventions

People acquire Toxoplasma gondii infection most often by one of two routes: by consuming either bradyzoite-stage parasites from infected meat, or oocyst-stage parasites from contaminated environments. It is important to be able to identify how people become infected with this parasite, for several reasons. Firstly, because this information could be important for predicting how ill the person is likely to become after infection. Secondly, this information could be used by scientists to find out how most
people are acquiring infections in any given population. In turn, this could translate into meaningful public health policies to reduce the number of Toxoplasma infections. This laboratory project will validate a diagnostic test that identifies which route of infection a person (or animal) has been infected with. By trialing the test on animal blood samples of known infection route, the project will estimate how accurate this test is for identifying the route of Toxoplasma infection.

Faculty Supervisor:

Christopher Fernandez-Prada

Student:

Partner:

Royal Veterinary College

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Aquaculture and Fishing; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: