Jitender P. Dubey
U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Primary Section: 61, Animal, Nutritional, and Applied Microbial Sciences Secondary Section: 44, Microbial Biology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2010)
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Research Interests
I am a veterinarian parasitologist interested in transmission of zoonotic parasitic diseases from animals to humans, and the discovery of new diseases that cause crippling diseases in humans and animals. I am most associated with the discovery of the transmission of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii to humans and animals through feces of cats and by eating undercooked infected meat. One-third of humanity is infected with T. gondii, and toxoplasmosis causes birth defects and loss of vision in humans and abortion in livestock. I cultivated and named the single celled parasite Neospora caninum, that causes abortion in cattle and crippling disease in companion animals. I also named the parasite Sarcocystis neurona that causes a fatal neurologic disease in horses in Americas. There are no effective vaccines or drugs to eliminate these parasites in tissues. Control measures for these diseases and/or prevention of transmission to humans are based on farm management practices and hygienic measures based largely on the research that we have published.
