Adult Toxoplasmosis

Although Toxoplasma has been recognized as pathogenic for lower animals since 1900, our knowledge of human infection with this protozoan is in its infancy. The organism has only recently been established as the etiologic agent in a peculiar type of meningo-encephalitis in newborn infants, under circumstances which suggest prenatal infection and consequently imply latent or sub clinical infection in the mothers of these infants. Six instances of this infantile disease entity have been reported to date.1 The first proved case of adult toxoplasmosis was recently reported by one of us with Weinman.2In this case the clinical features were obscured by a concomitant infection with Bartonella bacilliformis. In the report the literature has been reviewed, and the criteria for the identification and differential diagnosis of the organism have been discussed. The probability that the infection might not be excessively rare was also pointed out at this time. The