Veterinary vaccines against toxoplasmosis

Abstract

SUMMARYToxoplasma 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.