ABSTRACT
The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis usually is based on one or more of the following: clinical signs, parasite isolation, antibody detection, cell-mediated responses, and antigen detection. However, the detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA by polymerase chain reaction for diagnosis has become widespread. The clinical diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in humans is complicated due to the vast range and variation in degree of severity of symptoms. The most characteristic feature of acquired toxoplasmosis in the immunoincompetent host is central nervous system involvement. Along with the loss and reduction in quality of human life, toxoplasmosis causes great financial loss in the agricultural industry. Many serological tests have been used for the detection of immunoglobulin G T. gondii antibodies: Sabin-Feldman dye test, indirect hemagglutination, complement fixation, modified agglutination test, latex agglutination, indirect fluorescent antibody, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis has been confirmed by direct immunohistological detection of the parasite in tissue.
