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Source: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/h...-study-4754297
Outdoor cats are helping mind-controlling parasite spread: UBC study
At once neglected and endemic, researchers suspect the protozoan parasite could have already infected up to half of humanity.
about 3 hours ago By: Stefan Labbé
It could have been an infected cougar or maybe a handful of house cats. What's certain: in the spring of 1995, heavy rain washed feline feces laced with millions of parasitic eggs into Humpback Reservoir. Within weeks, over 100 residents of Victoria, B.C., fell ill with toxoplasmosis in the largest outbreak of its kind ever recorded.
On the lookout for fever, eye problems and brain swelling, health officials tested at least 5,000 pregnant women for the parasitic infection.
"Babies at risk? Testing will tell," read one Times Colonist headline as health officials scrambled for answers.
"Health scare turns cats into pariahs," read another.
A protozoac parasite smaller than the width of a human hair, you'll find toxoplasma gondii virtually everywhere you look.
"It is so pervasive. It is the most successful life form on the planet," said Kevin Lafferty, a senior ecologist studying parasites with the US Geological Survey. "It's 8,000 feet up in the air in geese; it's 8,000 feet below the surface of the ocean in sperm whales. It's on every continent, including Antarctica."
At once neglected and endemic, researchers suspect the parasite could have already infected up to half of humanity...
Outdoor cats are helping mind-controlling parasite spread: UBC study
At once neglected and endemic, researchers suspect the protozoan parasite could have already infected up to half of humanity.
about 3 hours ago By: Stefan Labbé
It could have been an infected cougar or maybe a handful of house cats. What's certain: in the spring of 1995, heavy rain washed feline feces laced with millions of parasitic eggs into Humpback Reservoir. Within weeks, over 100 residents of Victoria, B.C., fell ill with toxoplasmosis in the largest outbreak of its kind ever recorded.
On the lookout for fever, eye problems and brain swelling, health officials tested at least 5,000 pregnant women for the parasitic infection.
"Babies at risk? Testing will tell," read one Times Colonist headline as health officials scrambled for answers.
"Health scare turns cats into pariahs," read another.
A protozoac parasite smaller than the width of a human hair, you'll find toxoplasma gondii virtually everywhere you look.
"It is so pervasive. It is the most successful life form on the planet," said Kevin Lafferty, a senior ecologist studying parasites with the US Geological Survey. "It's 8,000 feet up in the air in geese; it's 8,000 feet below the surface of the ocean in sperm whales. It's on every continent, including Antarctica."
At once neglected and endemic, researchers suspect the parasite could have already infected up to half of humanity...