CATS HAVE BAD BUGS IN THEIR BELLIES
Infection risk posed by cats revealed
By Michelle Roberts, BBC News online
Experts say more research is needed into a disease spread by cats after figures show an estimated 350,000 people a year in the UK become infected with toxoplasmosis.
Although only a minority of people – between one and two in every 10 – has symptoms, advisers say extra measures to control the disease may be needed.
The disease is spread by direct contact with cats or eating contaminated food.
The Food Standards Agency has released an official report. It says there is a lack of data on the condition, making it difficult to estimate the real burden of the disease. And it says the current consumer advice should be reviewed.
FSA Chief Scientist, Andrew Wadge said: “This thorough and detailed report points out key gaps in our knowledge about this parasite and suggests areas where more research is needed which will help us in estimating how much infection is due to food and which foods might be the highest risk.”
“The report also suggests we look again at our advice to vulnerable groups and ensure that it reflects current scientific knowledge.”
In about 80% of cases, a person who is infected will not be aware and will have no symptoms. Others will develop mild flu-like symptoms, but will not need treatment.
But toxoplasmosis – the disease in humans - can cause serious complications in people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV and cancer. And in pregnant women it can result in the baby being born blind or with brain damage. Three babies in every 100,000 are born with the condition in the UK.
Toxoplasmosis is a notifiable disease in Scotland but is neither a notifiable nor reportable disease in the rest of the UK.
Gloves advice
The culprit parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, can get into the food chain via cats faeces causing contamination of soil, water and plants.
Humans may catch the infection from eating undercooked meat from animals harbouring toxoplasma or from contact with cat litter or contaminated soil.
Once infected, a person is immune from further infection for life.
The best way to avoid infection is to make sure you wear gloves when gardening or changing your cat’s litter tray, wash fruit and vegetables before eating and cook meat thoroughly – although it is possible to still enjoy it rare, says the Food Standards Agency.
Dr. Pinna says:
In over 30 years of practice in the USA I have never encountered one case of toxoplasmosis. However, this is because almost all the infections do not produce disease.
The population in the U.S.A. has an infection rate of approximately 16 percent according to one study. That means they show antibodies for the disease.
It does not mean the infection is active.
When the immune system is destroyed, such as in AIDS, then the parasite appears and becomes active. My friends who treat AIDS patients, tell me they see it all the time.
Most of the infections are in African-Americans and migrants from other countries.
These infections are caused by eating raw meat. RAW FOOD LOVERS, BEWARE!
If you are interested in reading an excerpt from the scientific report, here it is:
“Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite of warm-blooded animals. However, only members of the cat family (Felidae) are definitive hosts for the organism, which is shed in their feces for several weeks after the organism has completed a sexual cycle in their intestinal epithelial cells. Infection in humans generally occurs either by ingesting viable tissue cysts in raw or undercooked meat or by ingesting oocysts shed in the feces of a cat.
After acute infection, T. gondii continues to exist in tissue cysts in humans, particularly in the muscles and brain. Tissue cysts are long-lived and not associated with disease. However, in people with immunodeficiencies such as AIDS or malignancies, rupture of cysts results in disease reactivation, including encephalitis or disseminated toxoplasmosis. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies to T. gondii appear early, reach a peak within 6 months after infection, and are detectable for life.”
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