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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHOW A CAT PARASITE AFFECTS YOUR BEHAVIOR, MENTAL HEALTH, AND SEX DRIVE
Parasitic mind-control is common in the animal kingdom. The rabies virus produces a delirious rage in its dying host, causing the animal to infect new victims with its bite. The hairworm Spinochordodes tellinii manipulates the brains of crickets into committing suicide by leaping into water, where the worm can breed. When the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii enters a rodent, the animals natural fear of cat urine is reversed. The rodent becomes attracted to the odor of its predator, and when eaten, the parasite is able to spawn inside the felines intestines.
Although Toxoplasma is primarily a rodent parasite, human beings are not immune. Our cohabitation with cats ensures ample opportunity for toxoplasmosis to occur through fecal contact. Since its discovery in the early 1900s, the protozoan had been widely viewed as a relatively benign passenger in humans. The only perceived threat was to patients with compromised immune systems (such as people with AIDS) and pregnant women whose fetuses are often deformed or aborted by the pathogen. It was believed that a healthy human host could control the parasite indefinitely. New evidence suggests the opposite. Through a delicate finessing of the neurotransmitters in our brains, it is us who are being controlled.
Dr. Jaroslav Flegr was the first to make these claims in 2002. Analyzing traffic data, the Czech parasitologist discovered that toxoplasmosis-infected drivers are 2.6 times more likely to be involved in car crashes. Flegr sees a parallel between the risk-taking behavior of infected rodents and the risk-taking behavior of the infected motorists. It was a pattern the scientist had noticed first in himself.
While attending Charles University in Prague, the usually conscientious Flegr realized that he had suddenly become bolder. The student frequently found himself crossing the street without looking, oblivious to the blaring of car horns around him. He also began openly criticizing the Communist government, at a time when dissent was a crime. It wasnt until he tested positive for toxoplasmosis as part of an unrelated research project that Flegr began to make sense of his recklessness. If the parasite could alter the behavior of rodents, he reasoned, why not humans too?
http://www.vice.com/read/how-a-cat-parasite-affects-your-behavior-mental-health-sex-drive?utm_source=vicefbus
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)You can take my cats when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)this is a parasite that is most generally dangerous only to pregnant humans.
Reading this again...it has got to be from the Onion.
Too funny. Openly criticizing the Communist government? Caused by cat parasites?
Pretty sure the Czech Republic was not Communist at that time.
Edited too many times from rofl.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)when Czecholsovakia was still one country and under Soviet domination.
Sparhawk60
(359 posts)That's just the parasite talking. You actually hate cats, but the parasite has complete control of your mind. Resistance is futile. lol
Sparhawk
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)...when I first saw the title of your OP I thought "Well now, you could just remove the term 'parasite' and have an entirely plausible (if different) discussion."
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,500 posts).
GusBob
(7,286 posts)Both young and pregnant. Both misdiagnosed mutliple times along the way. Very poor prognosis. The most recent case the young lady had seven cats.
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)enough to avoid cat poop, though we still have a cat (of course). I wouldn't dismiss it as cat-hating propaganda, as the parasite is the problem, not the cat.