From: "Gary Britt" 

As a cat owner with one cat that regularly eats wild mice, it concerns me
that cats are a prevalent carrier.

I'd be interested if you get more info on it, and what it takes to kill the
parasite, etc.

Thanks,

Gary

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:43f0b963$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Start with Cheney - keep all shotguns away from him temporarily at least
:-)
>
> Ideology aside - that half the worlds population is affected by Toxoplasma
> parasites  is interesting. I wonder if there are any studies by geographic
> location?
>
>
> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
> news:43f0ac7e{at}w3.nls.net...
> > Bush is a dog person.  The common thread in all of this is the host
> > engages
> > in behavior calculated to lead to its death.  In other words the hosts
are
> > trying to commit suicide.  This would explain not neocon behavior, but
> > liberal neo surrender monkey behavior.  They are trying to do everything
> > they can to interfere with their defense in the face on an intractable
and
> > deadly enemy (i.e., they are trying to commit suicide).  Maybe we should
> > start testing Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Cindy Sheehan, everyone at Daily
> > KOS, Monte, etc for these parasites.
> >
> > Gary
> >
> > "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> > news:43efa227{at}w3.nls.net...
> >> Maybe the neocons have a valid excuse. The Toxoplasma didn't like
Saddam?
> >>
> >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060211/sc_space/mindcontrolbyparasites
> >>
> >> Mind Control by Parasites
> >>
> >> Half of the world's human population is infected with Toxoplasma,
> > parasites
> >> in the body-and the brain. Remember that.
> >> Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite found in the guts of cats; it
> >> sheds
> >> eggs that are picked up by rats and other animals that are eaten by
cats.
> >> Toxoplasma forms cysts in the bodies of the intermediate rat hosts,
> >> including in the brain.
> >>
> >> Since cats don't want to eat dead, decaying prey, Toxoplasma takes the
> >> evolutionarily sound course of being a "good"
parasite, leaving the
rats
> >> perfectly healthy. Or are they?
> >>
> >> Oxford scientists discovered that the minds of the infected rats have
> >> been
> >> subtly altered. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that
> >> healthy
> >> rats will prudently avoid areas that have been doused with cat urine.
In
> >> fact, when scientists test anti-anxiety drugs on rats, they use a whiff
> >> of
> >> cat urine to induce neurochemical panic.
> >>
> >> However, it turns out that Toxoplasma-ridden rats show no such
reaction.
> > In
> >> fact, some of the infected rats actually seek out the cat urine-marked
> > areas
> >> again and again. The parasite alters the mind (and thus the behavior)
of
> > the
> >> rat for its own benefit.
> >>
> >> If the parasite can alter rat behavior, does it have any effect on
> >> humans?
> >>
> >> Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the
> >> Stanley Medical Research Institute) noticed links between Toxoplasma
and
> >> schizophrenia in human beings, approximately three billion of whom are
> >> infected with T. gondii:
> >>
> >>   a.. Toxoplasma infection is associated with damage to astrocytes,
glial
> >> cells which surround and support neurons. Schizophrenia is also
> >> associated
> >> with damage to astrocytes.
> >>   b.. Pregnant women with high levels of antibodies to Toxoplasma are
> >> more
> >> likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia.
> >>   c.. Human cells raised in petri dishes, and infected with Toxoplasma,
> > will
> >> respond to drugs like haloperidol; the growth of the parasite stops.
> >> Haloperidol is an antipsychotic, used to treat schizophrenia.
> >> Dr. Torrey got together with the Oxford scientists, to see if anything
> > could
> >> be done about those parasite-controlled rats that were driven to hang
> > around
> >> cat urine-soaked corners (waiting for cats). According to a recent
press
> >> release, haloperidol restores the rat's healthy fear of cat urine. In
> > fact,
> >> antipsychotic drugs were as effective as pyrimethamine, a drug that
> >> specifically eliminates Toxoplasma.
> >>
> >> Are parasites like Toxoplasma subtly altering human behavior? As it
turns
> >> out, science fiction writers have been thinking about whether or not
> >> parasites could alter a human being's behavior, or even take control of
a
> >> person. In his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters, Robert Heinlein wrote
about
> >> alien parasites the size of dinner plates that took control of the
minds
> > of
> >> their hosts, flooding their brains with neurochemicals. In this
excerpt,
> >> a
> >> volunteer strapped to a chair allows a parasite to be introduced; the
> >> parasite rides him, taking over his mind. Under these conditions, it is
> >> possible to interview the parasite; however, it refuses to answer until
> >> zapped with a cattle prod.
> >>
> >>   He reached past my shoulders with a rod. I felt a shocking,
unbearable
> >> pain. The room blacked out as if a switch had been thrown.. I was split
> >> apart by it; for the moment I was masterless.
> >>
> >>   The pain left, leaving only its searing memory behind. Before I could
> >> speak, or even think coherently for myself, the splitting away had
ended
> > and
> >> I was again safe in the arms of my master...
> >>
> >>   The panic that possessed me washed away; I was again filled with an
> >> unworried sense of well being...
> >>
> >>   "What are you?" "We are the people... We
have studied you and we know
> > your
> >> ways... We come," I went on, "to bring you peace..
and contentment-and
> >> the
> >> joy of-of surrender." I hesitated again;
"surrender" was not the right
> > word.
> >> I struggled with it the way one struggles with a poorly grasped foreign
> >> language. "The joy," I repeated, "-the joy of
. . .nirvana." That was
it;
> >> the word fitted. I felt like a dog being patted for fetching a stick; I
> >> wriggled with pleasure.
> >>
> >>
> >> Still not sure that parasites can manipulate the behavior of host
> > organisms?
> >> Consider these other cases:
> >>
> >>   a.. The lancet fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum forces its ant host to
> >> attach to the tips of grass blades, the easier to be eaten. The fluke
> > needs
> >> to get into the gut of a grazing animal to complete its life cycle.
> >>   b.. The fluke Euhaplorchis californiensis causes fish to shimmy and
> >> jump
> >> so wading birds will grab them and eat them, for the same reason.
> >>   c.. Hairworms, which live inside grasshoppers, sabotage the
> > grasshopper's
> >> central nervous system, forcing them to jump into pools of water,
> >> drowning
> >> themselves. Hairworms then swim away from their hapless hosts to
continue
> >> their life cycle.
> >>
> >> Not all science-fictional parasites are harmful; read about the
Crosswell
> >> tapeworm from Brian Aldiss' 1969 story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
> > (the
> >> basis for the Kubrick/Spielberg film AI), which keeps people who
overeat
> >> from becoming obese. Not to mention robots based on parasites. Read
press
> >> release on evidence for link between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia,
> > Suicidal
> >> grasshoppers. Story via blogger Carl Zimmer and his readers.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

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