Toxoplasma belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, which consists
of intracellular parasites that have a characteristically polarized cell structure and a complex cytoskeletal and organellar
arrangement at their apical end (42). Other members of this
phylum include the human pathogens Plasmodium (the cause
of malaria) and Cryptosporidium as well as the animal pathogens
Eimeria (the cause of chicken coccidiosis) and Sarcocystis.