Two days ago, a friend asked in a private message, saying that his family wanted to have a cat, but he always felt that there was an infectious disease, but he did not know which ones.
In fact, there are not many types of infectious diseases common between cats and people, most of the infection routes are through bites, scratches, contact with cat secretions (such as feces, etc.), and the virus is caused by mouth entry. So as long as there is a correct hygiene concept and feeding methods, there is no problem.
So today I will take you to know one of the zoonotic infectious diseases: Toxoplasma gondii.
1. Understanding Toxoplasma gondii:
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that is widespread, infected by more than 200 species of mammals and birds, including humans. The body is arched and its full name is Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic protozoa, and toxoplasmosis infection usually does not show significant clinical symptoms in the case of normal immune function.
Infection with toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women is more severe, resulting in stillbirth or miscarriage, and the vast majority of babies who are fortunate enough to be born are also accompanied by neurological disorders and other birth defects. At the same time, Toxoplasma gondii is also one of the leading causes of death in AIDS patients.
【Image source: Wikipedia】
Its propagation process needs to go through two types of hosts, intermediate hosts and terminal hosts, and the forms of insect bodies in the host are also diverse. These include rapid procifiers with strong infectious ability, as well as brady protozoites and oocysts with poor infectious ability.
Intermediate host:
Intermediate hosts include humans, dogs, cats, rats and other warm-blooded animals, through blood or lymphatic circulation into the tissues and organs (including brain, lungs, eyes, liver, muscles, etc.) intracellular development and appreciation, to complete the development process, during which will cause damage to the corresponding organ tissues, but this process will not be through the feces to exclude the oocyst.
Terminal host:
There is only one terminal host, and after completing developmental proliferation, it will form an egg sac, destroy the epithelial cells of the hair into the intestinal lumen, and excrete with the feces of the cat. The formation of infective mature oocysts poses a risk of infection for other susceptible organisms.
After a cat is infected, Toxoplasma gondii will complete the survival history in 3 to 21 days and discharge infective oocysts. If during infection, the cat produces antibodies, then the egg sac is no longer excreted outward.
2. Route of infection
There are many routes of infection, divided into congenital and acquired, congenital refers to pregnant women infected, through the placenta to the fetus.
Acquired infection is when an intermediate or terminal host directly infects a human by ingesting food containing infected organisms (including tachycardia, bradys, and mature egg sacs), including improperly handled meat, dairy, egg products, and drinking water, is rare.
In a very small probability, Toxoplasma can be infected through the respiratory tract, eye conjunctiva or broken skin and mucous membranes; the egg sacs carried by arthropods also have certain transmission significance, and flies, cockroaches, earthworms, etc. will also be the vectors of toxoplasmosis oocysts.
3. Symptoms of infection
There are many influencing factors that occur after infection, including the number of infections, the virulence of the insect strain, and the immunity of the host. Cats are less sensitive and rarely develop clinical symptoms.
(1) The most common is to affect individual organs, such as lungs, eyes, intestines, liver, like anorexia, fever, drowsiness, diarrhea, dyspnea, cramps, eye abnormalities and jaundice are the most common clinical symptoms.
(2) Adult cats, like humans, will not have clinical symptoms even if they are infected, and will recover and form antibodies on their own. (except for immunodeficient hosts)
(3) Kittens are more susceptible and will die due to acute infection.
(4) After the pregnant female cat and pregnant women are infected, they will be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta, resulting in congenital infection resulting in miscarriage or stillbirth.
4. Diagnosis
Cats should be examined for Toxoplasma gondii when:
(1) There are members of the family who are trying to conceive or have poor immunity
(2) The physical condition of the cat after rescue and adoption
(3) The cat has symptoms of suspected toxoplasmosis.
Clinically, stool egg detection and serum antibody detection are commonly used for comprehensive judgment.
5. Treatment
Cats can be treated with antibiotics for 4 weeks, and cats can also be given drugs that regulate immune function, such as recombinant IFN-γ or LAK cells.
Sixth, prevention
Many people worry about getting toxoplasmosis from cats because they are pregnant, but it's important to note that cats aren't the only source of infection. Pregnant women need to do the necessary hygiene work is the most fundamental way to prevent infection.
【The picture comes from the Internet, the infringing contact is deleted】
(1) Food sources
Tableware or after contact with raw meat surfaces, vegetables and fruits and other surfaces, should be washed with soap and water, before washing to avoid direct or indirect contact between hands and mouth.
At the same time, meat can also be killed by keeping the meat at temperatures above 70 ° C for more than 10 minutes, or freezing in a refrigerator at - 12 ° C for more than 24 hours.
(2) Pregnant women or people with poor immunity should avoid eating with cats, do not personally deal with cat feces, especially the diarrhea of kittens, and let others wear disposable gloves to clean and replace every day, because the oocyst takes at least 24 hours to form a cyst, during which the oocyst is not infectious.
(3) Environmental sanitation
Completely remove oocyst vectors, such as flies, cockroaches, etc., and if there are plant pots in the home, it is best to wear gloves when handling to prevent infection with toxoplasmosis in the soil.
(4) Prevention of cats
Except for the cat to detect toxoplasmosis, the shoveler should not give the cat raw liver or meat of unknown origin. It should also avoid preying on intermediate hosts such as rats and earthworms or vesicule hosts. As long as the cat is not infected, then the cat infects the person.
But in any case, for cats, humans or other animals, foodborne infection is the main way of toxoplasmosis infection, and daily attention should be paid to food hygiene. The probability of infection between people playing with cats is extremely low, and what everyone needs to do is to raise good hygiene habits, wash hands frequently, and prevent diseases from entering the mouth.
References:
Lin Zhengyi. Chen Qianwen, "Encyclopedia of Cat Family Medicine". Beijing Electronics Industry Press.2016.5
[2] Gary D. Norsworthy, Sharon Fooshee Grace. Feline [M]: Fourth Edition. ZHAO Xingxu. Beijing:China Agriculture Press,2015.]
About our sweet pet: a pet content community, everyone shares the experience of pet raising, self-check pet diseases, post pictures every day, spit on the difficulty of raising pets, welcome to pick up the dog and suck the cat together