We propose a new mathematical model to investigate the effect of the introduction of an exposed stage for the cats who become infected with the T. gondii parasite, but that are not still able to produce oocysts in the environment. The model considers a time delay in order to represent the duration of the exposed stage. Besides the cat population the model also includes the oocysts related to the T. gondii in the environment. The model includes the cats since they are the only definitive host and the oocysts, since they are relevant to the dynamics of toxoplasmosis. The model considers lifelong immunity for the recovered cats and vaccinated cats. In addition, the model considers that cats can get infected through an effective contact with the oocysts in the environment. We find conditions such that the toxoplasmosis disease becomes extinct. We analyze the consequences of considering the exposed stage and the time delay on the stability of the equilibrium points. We numerically solve the constructed model and corroborated the theoretical results.
Keywords: cats; exposed stage; oocysts; stability analysis; time delay; toxoplasmosis.