Toxoplasmosis, the universal disease, now found also in Giant Panda

Toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, infects virtually all warm-blooded animals (mammals and birds), including humans. In February 2014, a 7-year-old female Giant Panda named Jin Yi died in Zhengzhou Zoo, China. Researchers from the Jilin Agricultural University in Changchun, the Military Veterinary Institute in Changchun and the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Ya’an, China have now published their analysis, based on immunological and molecular methods. They confirmed that Jin Yi died from acute gastroenteritis and respiratory symptoms caused by toxoplasmosis. This is the first report of toxoplasmosis in the Giant Panda. This finding is an additional example of the ubiquity of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite famous for reports of its effects on the behaviour of infected mice.

These findings are now reported in Parasite, an open-access journal.
The paper is published in English with English, French and Chinese abstracts.

Fatal Toxoplasma gondii infection in the giant panda
Hongyu Ma, Zedong Wang, Chengdong Wang, Caiwu Li, Feng Wei1, and Quan Liu

Recent open-access papers about toxoplasmosis and Toxoplasma gondii published in Parasite include:

2015

2014

2013