Update on Cats infecting humans

Toxoplasma Gondii, a bug not many people know of but has been around for thousands of years in animals and people, those infected suffer brain inflammation, sight problems and deficiencies with newborn babies. The bug has been relatively uncommon among people but is potentially widely present in cats, where it can reproduce and multiply. Cats have been known to infect mice with the bug that caused numerous problems for the rodents. Previously it was believed that the bug, reproducing inside of cats and causing them little distress, could not make the leap to humans, and that those people infected with it in medical history are coincidence. However with the latest cat disease known by “the shudder” some Scientists believe it is a variant of the Toxoplasma Gondii which has now been found in these cats. With this revelation it is also feared that since the original strain of Toxoplasma Gondii is capable of infecting humans that cats may end up being capable of transferring the new strain of the condition to people with potentially fatal consequences.


Another possible cause of the shudder could be Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy. This is more widely known as the cat equivalent of mad cow disease. As with all diseases among animals there is the ever present risk of the cells making the evolutionary jump from feline to human.


The scare that scientists are facing is similar to the foot and mouth and mad cow crisis Britain experienced several years ago. Scientists fear that if they delay action then this new bug could infect people and cause a countrywide and potentially global epidemic resulting in the deaths of millions of people. On the other hand if the verdict is made too hastily before ample research is discovered then actions may be taken against cats causing the unnecessary deaths of millions of pets.


Source: Report from the Government Consultation - embargoed for publication