Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the infection of a single cell called Toxoplasma gondii, and then called toxo organism, in humans this parasite may affect different organs of the body causing many different symptoms, usually include the respiratory system and may cause inflammation or Pneumonia, and the usual symptoms are similar to the symptoms of mild influenza, which lasts a few days, and most people heal it normally, and even despite seeing the patient to the doctor, may be described as Flu, unless blood tests carried which may reveal the parasite.
How does this disease relate to pregnant women?
If a pregnant woman is infected with toxoplasmosis, toxoplasmosis can affect the fetus, and this is the tragic form of the disease so that the baby is affected for life.
What are the incidence rates of the disease in adults? And rates of appearance in cats?
Exposure to toxoplasmosis will result in producing antibodies in the body. These antibodies are the defense components of the immune system and are produced as a reaction to stimulate the immune system. The presence of antibodies means that the person or cat has been infected, and this does not necessarily mean the emergence of the disease. About 50% of domestic cats in the United States have been infected, and about 33% of the US population have been infected, but these statistics do not mean that 50% of cats or 33% of people infected with Toxoplasma, the presence of antibodies means Only exposure to toxoplasmic parasites in the past .
What are the rates of infection in neonates?
Toxoplasma occurs in about 140 children per million births in the United States, or about 14 per 100,000, and a similar number of children develop toxoplasmosis at the time of birth and the disease has recently appeared in their lives. The combined incidence of hereditary toxoplasmosis in the United States is 28 per 100 thousand or 0.028%.
Although this is a real disease and its consequences are serious, it should be noted that its incidence is very low, especially in light of the number of people who have antibodies against toxoplasma.
How does infection by toxoplasmosis can occur?
Although many species are infected with toxoplasmosis and include humans and dogs, the parasite can only complete its life cycle in domestic cats. This means that cats can be infected with toxoplasmosis and transmit it to other cats or other species, including humans. Transmission The disease should occur as follows:
The cat should be infected with toxoplasmosis, and in fact most cats do not get infected. For a cat to be infected, the cat must eat something contaminated with the parasite, usually when the cat swallows an infected mouse with Toxoplasma, an infected bird, raw meat or incomplete cooking especially pork or lamb.
Toxoplasma must go out with cat's feces, and this occurs only in 14 to 21 days, and this usually occurs once in a lifetime. (In a few situations, the cat may return the parasite again with the stool, but in any case, the number of parasites that come out this time is very small, making the infection unlikely.)
The parasite must pass an incubation period in the cat's feces for 1 to 5 days before it becomes contagious. This incubation period should occur after the feces come out of the cat's body and reach the oxygen (this occurs in the waste or soil container).
Toxoplasmic parasites must be swallowed in order to induce infection. It is not transmitted to humans through the air.
The toxoplasmosis of humans can be transmitted by eating raw or incomplete meat, especially pork and mutton. As many hamburgers from fast food restaurants are made from beef diluted with pork, many responsible authorities consider that the disease is transmitted in this way more than cats, the presence of antibodies in veterinarians in the United States is no different from that of other populations.
What are the symptoms of Toxoplasmosis in cats?
Most cats do not show any clinical symptoms of the disease, but if they appear, they may include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, breathing problems, vomiting, diarrhea, yellow, eye infections and neurological problems.
How is Toxoplasma tested?
Veterinarians are repeatedly asked to test a cat belonging to a pregnant woman to detect toxoplasma. The following pregnant woman should know about the toxoplasma test:
The test of the detection of toxoplasmosis can also be performed on the cat and the pregnant woman. The negative result is that the woman (or cat) has not been infected with toxoplasmosis, but this does not prevent the woman or cat from future toxoplasmosis infection.
If the result of the test of the woman or cat is positive, it means either that the infection has occurred in the past or that the active infection of the Toxoplasma is emerging, and to differentiate between the two cases must be another test after a period of two to four weeks.
If both tests show similar results, it means past infection and a certain degree of immunity.
If the second test is significantly higher than the first, there is a strong possibility of an active infection on the way.
It is very important that both tests are conducted in the same laboratory to compare results appropriately.
Direct methods to document possible transmission of infection require microscopic examination of a sample of cat's feces, and the search for the eggs of the Toxoplasma (oocysts), and multiple tests must be performed during pregnancy because these eggs are very small (even the bottom of the microscope because the cat may not take out the eggs of the Toxoplasma today, but may take it out in the future, and prefer to take the test once a week, it is not a clear and easy test in the sense that it may be difficult to detect parasites, and can not diagnose the method of detection.
How to prevent Toxoplasmosis :
There are many practical ways to prevent the transmission of toxoplasmosis:
Do not allow your cat to eat a mouse, bird, raw or unfinished meat, feeding the cat on commercial cat food and not allowing him to go outside the home effectively prevents toxoplasmosis .
Clean the cat's feces from the litter box daily. Even if the cat's feces have toxoplasma, there should be a period of incubation for 1 to 5 days before becoming contagious.
To be safe, do not let the pregnant woman clean the waste can. Wear a glove when working in the soil or garden or the two rose beds that the cat may use to stand out, to protect your hand from contamination with eggs.
Avoid eating raw or incomplete meat.
Be careful of junk food such as hamburgers, which are more dangerous to your child than your cat,Pay particular attention to this.
Cover sandboxes for children. Cats will use sandboxes constantly to stand out. Even if the faeces are removed, they remain contaminated with parasites.
