Toxoplasmosis in South America: a hybridization-driven disease burden?

Human-mediated migrations have reshaped Toxoplasma gondii in South America through massive hybridizations between Old World domestic lineages and wild native populations. We propose that this convergence of domestic adaptation and virulence traits from wild strains underlies the continent's unusually severe disease burden, particularly ocular toxoplasmosis, with major public health implications.