Shovelers, why do you like the kittens at home so much? Would you rather cut down on food and clothing than give your cat the best food to play?
Have you ever wondered if you are mentally controlled by the cat?
In order to get better living conditions, the cats use some way to mentally control the shoveler, so that the shoveler likes them more and more and provides them with delicious food and comfortable shelter.
Makes sense!
Whether the cat has this "magic" or not is a matter of fact, but a parasite in the cat's body, "Toxoplasma gondii", after decades of research, has found that it can indeed perform some kind of "mind control", and about one-third of the world's people are infected with this parasite.
Toxoplasma gondii, the first scholars to discover it in the body of the gangdi comb-toed rat, the body of the insect is arched, hence the name.
Toxoplasma gondii is not only found in cats and mice, it is widely present in all parts of the world, contaminated water sources, soil, plants, pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese and other livestock and poultry, meat products, eggs, dairy products, and even flies are all transmission routes.
Many people are worried that raising cats will infect Toxoplasma gondii, in fact, the probability of people infecting Toxoplasma gondii through food and drinking water in daily life is much greater than that of cats.
Can be infected with Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii is a very special of all parasites in cats, and it reproduces sexually only in the intestines of cats and only asexually in other places.
Researchers at the University of Geneva published a paper in the scientific journal Cell documenting the effects of Toxoplasma gondii on mice.
The study found that mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii lost the ability to fear and turned a blind eye to the threat that would kill them, and even took the initiative to run to the cat and let the cat eat it.
This is the "mind control" of Toxoplasma gondii, because Toxoplasma gondii can only reproduce sexually in the cat, so it will make rats, rabbits, etc. no longer afraid of cats, but will take the initiative to come to the cat and be eaten by the cat. Toxoplasma gondii can then come to the cat's intestines and reproduce sexually.
So how does Toxoplasma gondii manipulate the behavior of rats?
After dissecting the mice, the researchers found the reason: Toxoplasma gondii took advantage of the rejection response of the rat's cerebral cortex.
When mice are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, the cerebral cortex produces a specific rejection response that is against the invasion of Toxoplasma gondii but is exploited by it.
Rejection can cause some nerves in the cerebral cortex to become inflamed and swollen, and if the rejection response is intense, it can even lead to permanent damage to the nerves.
When the nerves in the rat's brain that inhibit the desire to explore become inflamed due to rejection, the rats will appear fearless and more adventurous. Generally, rats are afraid of the smell of cats, but infected mice dare to smell cat urine and dare to come to the cat with a big wave.
Toxoplasma gondii can only reproduce sexually in felines, a problem that has puzzled scientists for a long time.
In 2019, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published a research paper in the journal Plos biology: "intestinal delta-6-desaturase activity determines host range for toxoplasma sexual reproduction"
The paper points out that the sexual reproduction stage of Toxoplasma gondii is stimulated by the vegetable fat linoleic acid, and cats are the only mammals with a total excess of linoleic acid because of the lack of delta-6 desaturase in their intestines, which hinders the conversion of linoleic acid.
Linoleic acid in mammals is converted into other substances by delta-6 desaturase to regulate the immune system, because felines evolved in desert environments and need to conserve fatty acids in their bodies to adapt to the environment. After experiments, the content of linoleic acid in cats was 25%-46%, while mice only had 3%-10%.
Sexual reproduction of Toxoplasma gondii requires a lot of linoleic acid involvement, so the intestines of cats become the only place where they can sexually reproduce.
At the beginning of the article, we asked a question, have you ever thought that the shoveler is "mind-controlled" by the cat?
Don't be nervous, Toxoplasma gondii does not have such a big skill, and the ultimate purpose of "manipulating" mice is to let themselves into the intestines of cats, not to make cats eat better.
But Toxoplasma do have a certain degree of influence on human personality.
When humans are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, women become more enthusiastic, outgoing, and caring for others, and men become duller and clumsier. Both men and women increase their sense of guilt and insecurity.
For adults, after infection with Toxoplasma gondii, they will not feel any discomfort in their bodies, at most it is like having a cold, which does not have much impact. But if the immune system is destroyed, or when the body is weakened by a serious illness, the toxoplasma gondii may attack at this time and carry out a large number of asexual reproduction.
The effect of Toxoplasma gondii on the fetus is enormous.
In addition to the above-mentioned toxoplasma gondii, which is generally transmitted through food and drinking water, there is another important route of transmission, which is mother-to-child transmission.
Mothers infected with Toxoplasma gondii can be transmitted to the fetus because the fetus's immune system is not yet fully developed, so Toxoplasma gondii can invade the tissues and organs of the fetus, resulting in miscarriage, premature birth or fetal malformations in pregnant women.
The incidence of this parasitic disease in newborns is about 12%, which generally leads to neonatal malformations and death, and surviving newborns will leave permanent sequelae, such as mental disorders, autism, hyperactivity, visual impairment, etc.
For adults, once infected with Toxoplasma gondii, it is equivalent to planting an untimed bomb in the body, and once the body's weak immune system collapses, it will wait for an opportunity.
Therefore, we must take daily prevention.
Many people will say that you can't keep cats, in fact, by raising cats to be infected with Toxoplasma gondii, the probability of infection with Gondii is much lower than eating steak infections.
Raising cats, only if the cat has been infected with Toxoplasma gondii, and when the shoveler goes to shovel the, he directly comes into contact with feces and cat litter, and after the fact, he does not wash his hands and directly grabs something with his hands to eat, it is possible to infect Toxoplasma gondii.
As long as the cat is usually dewormed and the cat is not given raw meat and raw water, the cat will naturally have no toxoplasma gondii in the cat. After the shoveler shovels the, as long as he washes his hands well, the toxoplasmosis cannot enter the human body.
Toxoplasma gondii prevention, or directly from food, water and sanitation, these three are the most easily transmitted routes.
People should also avoid eating raw or semi-cooked meat, not eating raw or half-cooked egg and dairy products, drinking raw water, washing hands frequently, and keeping the home clean.
If there are pregnant women at home, do not let the mother-to-be shovel the cat, do not let the cat touch the mother-to-be's food, the mother-to-be must wash her hands after holding the cat, and do the obstetric examination on time. Pregnant women have low immunity during pregnancy, involving expectant mothers and children, and there is always nothing wrong with being careful.
If you suspect that you have been infected with Toxoplasma gondii, just go to the hospital for a test, if you are really infected, go to the doctor to get medicine or injections, you can clear the body of Toxoplasma gondii.