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Human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection during pregnancy has been associated with fetal deaths. We conducted several studies to develop data needed to make recommendations for preventing fetal death associated with infection. In the first study, after an outbreak of B19 infection, specimens of cord blood from 47 infants with congenital anomalies, 10 with suspected intrauterine infection, and gestational age-matched controls were tested for IgG and IgM antibodies to B19. None had evidence of recent infection. Next, 192 women with unknown exposure to B19 who had stillbirths or spontaneous abortions were studied. Two patients and two controls had evidence of recent B19 infection. In a second case-control study of women who had stillbirths after outbreaks of erythema infectiosum in area schools, none of the 20 patients or 26 controls were IgM positive at the time of delivery. The rate of infection, as demonstrated by IgM positivity, among 267 pregnant control subjects was approximately 1%. These studies suggest that among pregnant women unselected for exposure to B19, neither infection nor stillbirths are common.

In October, 1977, an outbreak of toxoplasmosis occurred in patrons of a riding stable in Atlanta, Georgia; 37 became ill with toxoplasmosis or had serologic evidence by indirect fluorescent-antibody test of acute infection with Toxoplasma gondii (titer ≥1:4096 or a positive fluorescent-antibody test for toxoplasma antibodies). Forty-nine additional patrons did not become ill. Two of the three adult cats from the stable were seropositive for toxoplasma, which was also recovered from the tissues of two kittens and four mice trapped near the stable. Patrons who spent most of their time at the end of the stable where a cat had defecated had the highest incidence of infection. Patrons who attended the stable daily had a higher attack rate than those who attended less frequently. No common meals were consumed, and dietary history eliminated meat as the source of infection. The data suggest that toxoplasma oocysts were the source of the infection. (N Engl J Med 300:695–699, 1979)