What is toxoplasmosis?
Rather uncommon in dogs, toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan of the coccidia family.
The dog - unlike the cat - is not a definitive host of the parasite but only an intermediate host in the same way as rodents, ruminants, horses, birds or humans. This means that the parasite cannot reproduce in these intermediate hosts and is not excreted in their feces.
The parasite can however infect the dog in its asexual form and live inside its cells.
How can a dog get toxoplasmosis?
Dogs can be infected with toxoplasmosis by ingesting toxoplasma oocysts.
These oocysts can be found in contaminated water, on soiled blades of grass or in infested cat droppings. Coprophagous dogs are therefore particularly at risk.
A dog can also become infected by eating raw or undercooked meat from an intermediate host (sheep, cattle, pigs).
Is toxoplasmosis transmitted to humans?
Yes, toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis. Understand by this that it is a disease transmissible to humans. The disease is particularly dreadful in pregnant women (in whom it can cause abortions or significant disorders in the unborn baby) and in immunocompromised people. However, a dog with toxoplasmosis cannot transmit the disease to a human because, as an intermediate host, they do not shed the parasite in their feces.In fact, humans become contaminated by contact with infested cat droppings (this is rare, however) and by eating contaminated food (poorly washed salad, undercooked meat).
What are the symptoms of toxoplasmosis in dogs?
As an intermediate host of the parasite, dogs can be affected by non-digestive toxoplasmosis.
In animals in good he alth and whose immune system is operational, it is most often asymptomatic and therefore goes completely unnoticed by the owner of the animal.
In immunocompromised animals, symptoms related to the organs infested by the parasite may appear such as cough, anorexia, fever, lameness, jaundice, encephalitis or many more eye problems.
In dogs, the symptoms of toxoplasmosis are most often expressed when the animal also has distemper.
What treatment?
When an animal expresses symptoms of toxoplasmosis, the veterinarian can set up a medical treatment, most often based on antibiotics, in order to fight against the parasite in question.