Posted by IsoM on March 13, 2002, at 0:03:12
In reply to Exposure to cats may cause schizophrenia, posted by OldSchool on March 12, 2002, at 12:42:14
First, it's good to find the small truths about this report.
Indoor only cats will NOT, I repeat, NOT carry the toxoplasmosis parasite. Cats get it from eating other small prey carrying the parasite. Indoor cats can't get it from commercial cat food. Even if an outside cat eats small prey & does ingest the parasite, cysts are only passed in the cat's feces, at the most, for a month after the initial infection (& it takes 19 days before the cysts start passing, so the cysts are only passed for two weeks max). It then takes the cyststhat were passed another 24 hours to complete its life-cycle before it can reinfect someone. Which means if the feces (even from a recently infected cat) were cleaned oftener than once a day, transmission wouldn't occur.
The danger was more prevalent in the past when most cats were outdoors & caught & ate mice & other small rodents, used the soil outside & was played & gardened in. What should be mentioned is there's a *far greater danger* of a pregnant woman getting toxoplasmosis from gardening in soil where cats might have gone (they should definitely wear garden gloves!) and/or in eating meat that hasn't been sufficently cooked. Up to 42% of adult pigs killed for food have been shown to be infected with this parasite [Dubey, J.P. Toxoplasmosis. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 1994. 205:1593-1598] & other meats are considered suspect too.
As for adults who have been previously infected with this parasite, I quote:
"Martin Hugh-Jones is the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Veterinary Public Health. He states that the percentage of adult humans with antibodies to the toxoplasmic parasite increases with age. For example, about 18% of 18 year olds have antibodies, 25% of 25 year olds, up to a maximum of slightly more than 30% of adults. These antibodies are probably due to ingesting undercooked pork (4) or maintaining insufficient hygiene while handling raw meat."Really all this doesn't much show that cats are a worry for us. I think Torrey is freaked unnecessarily about cats. Maybe he should have done some checking with veternarian researchers too before he developed & wrote this report.
poster:IsoM
thread:97631
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97728.html