Which parasite is transmitted to humans through food, usually via undercooked meat?

Which parasite is transmitted to humans through food, usually via undercooked meat?

• A. Toxin
• B. Thermometer
• C. Toxic Metals
• D. Toxoplasma Gondii

Answer: (D)

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that humans can acquire by eating undercooked meat containing tissue cysts. When such meat isn’t cooked thoroughly, the cysts survive and bradyzoites are ingested, leading to infection called toxoplasmosis. In healthy people it often causes mild or no symptoms, but it can be serious for pregnant women and individuals with weakened immune systems, potentially affecting a fetus if the mother is newly infected during pregnancy. The other options aren’t parasites—toxins and toxic metals are poisonous substances, and a thermometer is an instrument—so the parasite best fits the description of transmission through food via undercooked meat.

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that humans can acquire by eating undercooked meat containing tissue cysts. When such meat isn’t cooked thoroughly, the cysts survive and bradyzoites are ingested, leading to infection called toxoplasmosis. In healthy people it often causes mild or no symptoms, but it can be serious for pregnant women and individuals with weakened immune systems, potentially affecting a fetus if the mother is newly infected during pregnancy. The other options aren’t parasites—toxins and toxic metals are poisonous substances, and a thermometer is an instrument—so the parasite best fits the description of transmission through food via undercooked meat.