Moredun Research Institute are working alongside the Brazilian University of Sao Paulo, Newcastle University and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland after they were awarded a 3 year grant to discover how disease, caused by parasite, progresses in warm-blooded animals and is transmitted into food.

The funding has been allocated by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesuisa do Estado de Sao Paulo and is around £500,000. The intention is for a better understanding of foodborne transmission and aid future research into potential vaccine and drug development.

The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, can infect warm-blooded animals and can be passed on to people and animals after ingesting parasite eggs from cat faeces, undercooked meat containing parasite cysts or passed from mother to foetus during pregnancy.

The strains of Toxoplasma vary around the world and the research will look to determine the reasons why some are more severe than others.

The Project Lead, Dr. Clare Hamilton, of Moredun Research Institute states that they will use cells and different species of 3d ‘mini-guts’ to determine severity of Toxoplasma gondii infection and to predict how the disease will progress. They will also make a study of retail meat samples in Sao Paulo to determine risk to human health.

There is not usually any symptoms of toxoplasmosis but some people can develop flu-like symptoms such as high temperature, aching muscles, tiredness, nausea, sore throat and swollen glands which can last for weeks or months. Once toxoplasmosis has been caught it cannot be caught again.