Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that has capacity to infect warm-blooded animals. Human toxoplasmosis is usually asymptomatic, whereas severe complications may occur in immunocompromised patients (e.g. AIDS) or in case of congenitalinfection. One of the sources of acquiring human toxoplasmosis is ingestion of T. gondii oocysts. It is known that newly infected cats can shed millions of oocysts into the environment, which are then spread via water, wind or manure. Thus, consuming unwashed fruits andvegetables, contact with soil or drinking untreated water may lead to the infection. Moreover, T. gondii oocysts show the great resistance to various environmental influences and can survive for months in adverse environments. For that reasons detection of this worldwideparasite in environmental samples (e.g. soil or water) is very important. Currently, there is not too much information about the prevalence of the T. gondii oocysts in the environment. Till now, only a few examinations of water and soil were performed. Becauseof low numbers of T. gondii oocysts and the presence of the other coccidian oocysts in the environmental samples, sensitive and specific method of detection is necessary. A few different techniques were used in identification of Toxoplasma oocysts in water samples. Most of them were based on methods previously used in detection of the other parasites. Much less studies concerning analysis of oocysts in soil samples were published. Despite the fact that quite good results were obtained with the use of different methods, further efforts are still needed to develop and simplify method, so that it can be adopted for lower numbers of oocysts. This paper shows an overview of techniques which were used in detection of this protozoan in water and soil as well as new ideas for improvement.

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