I’ve got a friend who—I swear—is feeding my hypochondria for laughs. I’m not complaining, but I kid you not that she sends me every disgusting germ article the New York Times ever runs. I actually once wrote a lengthy blog post about the fear she instilled in me of infection by giant worms in your legs, but I decided it was a pretty lame topic considering my harping on about Toxoplasma gondii.
This time, my friend has followed up on the cat poop problem with a lively NYT story on my old buddy, Toxoplasmosis. Our favorite parasite is making news. Researchers have discovered more information about its habits, revealing that it is a genius of stealth. It masks itself inside healthy cells by popping in for a bit without scrambling up the cell enough to destroy it. Just uses it as a host, like when I go to visit my parents and I make them drive me all over town and buy me stuff. Same thing. The Toxoplasma gondii bugs use their favorite cells to go all over your body without being detected as a germ. That would be cool if it weren’t so gross.
Scientists also think that rats lose their innate fear of cats when infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Fascinating, but how will this help me? Will my dog quit chasing my cat? Can you imagine domestic harmony on the day a parasitic infection renders my dog feline oblivious? Oh what a glorious day that would be, however unlikely.
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Scientific American did an article on toxoplasmasis several years ago. When infected, mice loose their innate ability to smell and therefore detect the presence of a cat. The cat then can easily catch and eat the mouse which allows the parasite to jump species. There is another stranger parasite that resides in type of snail that ants apparently attack and eat. The parasite then causes the ants to crawl up to the high point of a blade of grass just as the sun begins to rise, which coincides with the time of day that large grass eating animals like horses and cattle generally eat. -Daisy the cow becomes the parasites final destination! ......hey, I couldn't make shit up if I had to!!! jeff
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