Authors

A Varshney¹; C Benvenuto¹; G Hide¹; D Thomason¹;  ¹ University of Salford, UK

Discussion

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii oocysts are considered to be a terrestrial parasite due to the definitive host being the cat. Infection of intermediate hosts has been reported from contamination by oocysts in both fresh and marine waters. Oocysts of this parasite are microscopic (10µm) and easily transported in water. Accidental uptake of oocysts by micro-organisms may aid the distribution of the parasite in aquatic environments and create a reservoir for entry into the aquatic food chain. To determine this role, fluorescent microbeads were used as a model to mimic the properties of oocysts in different concentrations of water. Eight different aquatic micro-organisms were exposed to the beads over different time intervals then observed under confocal microscopy. Five different species were observed to have ingested the beads one species ingested and collected the beads externally. Micro-organisms accidentally ingest oocysts and could be a possible reservoir and source of T. gondii into the aquatic food chain.