ABSTRACT
Toxoplasmosis outbreaks through contaminated water in human populations have been reported in detail showing how relevant environmental contamination can be. With the establishment of Toxoplasma gondii cell culture, the biological characteristics of the parasite have been delineated through the infection of primary cells, cell lines, and transfected cells with distinct strains and mutant parasites. The first description of Toxoplasma gondii was actually made independently by two groups using two different laboratory experimental animals: rabbits in Brazil, and the gundis, a rodent, in Tunisia. An interesting in vitro model involves the infection of primary cultures of embryonic-derived skeletal muscle cells by Toxoplasma gondii. The use of animal models to study toxoplasmosis is extremely important. Calomys callosus is highly susceptible to infection with the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii, which proliferates in large numbers in the newly implanted trophoblasts in pregnant females, and especially in the labyrinthine zone of the placenta.
