Be careful! Toxoplasmosis
“Congratulations, you are pregnant!” Words to send any normal woman into raptures. But the doctor not uncommonly follows them with a question: “And do you keep animals? Do you have a cat?” You say “yes”, at a loss, and the verdict comes down: better to get the cat out of the house for the whole of the pregnancy, or you may fall ill with toxoplasmosis. A grave sentence! In infants toxoplasmosis is a dangerous disease, and it can end in complete idiocy. And cats, it has to be said, really do help to spread the infection often enough.
Most people, though, have had the disease without noticing a thing — and have not merely had it, but come out of it immune. That is why a young woman should certainly have a serological test, to find out whether the corresponding antibodies are in her blood. If the verdict is positive, all is well and the newborn has nothing to fear. If the result is negative, then she really does have to be careful, because if she falls ill during the pregnancy the infection will pass to the child.
So let us come back once more to the doctor’s flat verdict. Is it worth submitting to it so meekly? Everything should be thought through and checked. We have no wish at all to play down the danger of toxoplasmosis — it is to be avoided. But parting with your four-footed favourite in haste is hardly worth it either. How many cats have been put down, or put out of the door, in ignorance, when it could all have been avoided? Besides, the figures we have say that 80 per cent of adults carry the parasite without ever falling ill of it.
A person can pick up toxoplasmosis in the following ways:
1. By eating raw pork or mutton, and also from parasites that get onto the hands while the meat is being prepared.
2. The infection may be present in cat faeces.
3. A mother can infect her unborn child. Eating raw pork or mutton that carries toxoplasma is a guarantee of toxoplasmosis — and about 10 per cent of pigs are infected with these damaging parasites.
A cat, broadly speaking, has the same opportunities of picking up toxoplasma as a person has. Most often the disease overtakes it at a good meat dinner. From 2 to 5 days after infection, and for a week afterwards, the cat’s faeces contain very hardy stages of the parasite. You can take the infection from them while working in the garden, say, where cats are in the habit of relieving themselves. Pregnant women who have never had toxoplasmosis should therefore keep away from gardening altogether, or wear stout rubber gloves. And a mother-to-be whose serological test came back negative must on no account clean out the cat’s tray herself — who knows what the diagnosis on your puss may be. Better still, take the cat to the vet: a great deal becomes clear at once, and if your favourite is healthy, work out a suitable menu for her, keep infection away from her, and go on keeping her company with an easy mind.
How is infection with toxoplasmosis to be prevented?
A few rules have to be kept. Meat meant for the cat must be boiled through; the only meat this need not be done to is meat that has been kept at 20 degrees below zero. Do not let the cat eat birds or rodents, which may carry toxoplasmosis. Any cat with the following signs — high temperature, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, loss of weight, coughing, laboured breathing — or simply with anything doubtful about it, must be taken to the vet to be examined. Cats in whose faeces the parasite has been found should be kept apart for 10–14 days for treatment. Clean the cat’s tray every day, since at room temperature the parasite stays alive for 2 to 4 days. Wash the tray with hot water and rinse it afterwards with a solution of ammonia, and wear special gloves or gauntlets while you do it. Put gauntlets on for work in the garden too. Do not put a child’s sandpit anywhere a cat can make use of it. Keep down cockroaches, flies and rodents, and do not let your cat come into contact with stray animals, which may have toxoplasmosis.