Kucing Pembawa Penyakit

By Syed Akbar Ali

The other day I mentioned in passing about Toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by cats. A Blog reader posted a comment pointing me towards further reading. I did some research. It is quite frightening. Many people have cats as house pets.

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Cats can be very dangerous to human health. Please read the following. This is just an extraction. For those of you who are interested, you can search 'Toxoplasmosis', look up Wikipedia etc for further reading. If there are any doctors reading this, who know this subject, I hope you will contribute your thoughts.

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Toxoplasmosis

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Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite infects most genera of warm-blooded animals, including humans, but the primary host is the felid (cat) family. Animals are infected by eating infected meat, by ingestion of faeces of a cat that has itself recently been infected, or by transmission from mother to fetus.

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Transmission may occur through: Ingestion of contaminated cat feaces. This can occur through hand-to-mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box, contact with children's sandpits, or touching and can survive in the environment for over a year. Cats excrete the pathogen in their faeces for a number of weeks after contracting the disease, generally by eating an infected rodent.

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During the first few weeks post-exposure, the infection typically causes a mild flu-like illness or no illness. Thereafter, the parasite rarely causes any symptoms in otherwise healthy adults.

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Those with a weakened immune system, such as pregnant women, may become seriously ill, and it can occasionally be fatal. The parasite can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and neurologic diseases, and can affect the heart, liver, inner ears, and eyes (chorioretinitis).

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Infants infected via placental transmission may be born with either of these problems, or with nasal malformations. Most infants who are infected while in the womb have no symptoms at birth but may develop symptoms later in life.

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Studies have been conducted that show the toxoplasmosis parasite may affect behavior and may be present as or be a causative or contributory factor in various psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.

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Recent research has found that the parasite produces an enzyme with tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylalanine hydroxylase activity. This enzyme may contribute to the behavioral changes in mood, sociability, attention, motivation and sleep patterns. Schizophrenia has long been linked to dopamine dysregulation.

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Congenital toxoplasmosis is a special form in which an unborn child is infected via the placenta. If a woman receives her first exposure to toxoplasmosis while pregnant, the baby is at particular risk. A woman with no previous exposure should avoid exposure to cat faeces, and gardening (cat faeces are common in garden soil).

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The parasite itself can cause various effects on the host body, some of which are not fully understood. The findings of behavioural alteration in rats and mice have led some scientists to speculate that Toxoplasma may have similar effects in humans

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Correlations have been found between latent Toxoplasma infections and various characteristics:

i. decreased novelty seeking behaviour
ii. slower reactions,
iii. lower rule-consciousness
iv. greater jealousy (in men).

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The evidence for behavioral effects on humans is controversial. No prospective research has been done on the topic, e.g., testing people before and after infection to ensure that the proposed behavior arises only afterwards.

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Other studies suggest that the parasite may influence personality. There are claims of Toxoplasma causing antisocial attitudes in men and promiscuity in women.

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The study suggests that male carriers have

i. shorter attention spans
ii. a greater likelihood of breaking rules
iii. anti-social
iv. suspicious, jealous
v. and morose.

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Female carriers are suggested to be more

i. outgoing, friendly
ii. more promiscuous

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Several studies have found significantly higher levels of Toxoplasma antibodies in schizophrenia patients compared to the general population.

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Conclusion : All this just from cats. To be safe, maybe we should ban cats from Malaysian households. If you have cats and there are family members who show those behaviours listed above, you may want to have them checked for toxoplasmosis.