Transmission of toxoplasmosis to humans from cats, infection of the fetus in pregnant women

How does the disease manifest itself?

If symptoms do appear, they may be:

• heat;
• enlarged lymph nodes, especially cervical ones;
• headache;
• body aches and muscle pain;
• sore throat.

The discomfort lasts about a month and goes away on its own.

If a person had problems with the immune system before infection, then the consequences of Toxoplasma are more serious:

• Headaches, convulsions, clouding of consciousness up to coma. This is the result of brain damage.
• Cough and shortness of breath due to lung infection.
• Vision problems and eye pain, especially in bright light, are another possibility of infection.

If a child becomes infected during pregnancy, the disease may appear months or even years later. Congenital toxoplasmosis is characterized by:

• bilateral retinal damage;
• brain calcifications;
• delay in psychomotor development;
• accumulation of excess fluid in the ventricles of the brain.

How can you become infected with toxoplasmosis?

Domestic animals, particularly cats, are carriers of the infection. They, by hunting mice and eating them, become infected themselves, and then transmit the parasite cysts to humans. As soon as you interact closely with your pet or let him sleep on the sofa, toxoplasma will immediately appear on your hands or things. The consequences of such communication may not appear immediately, but after several months. This is why it is so important to vaccinate and carry out preventive courses of treatment against parasites for animals living with you in your house or apartment.

The following routes of transmission of toxoplasmosis exist:

• Oral
• Through minor wounds on the skin
• When cultivating the land
• Through animals
• During blood transfusion
• In utero (from mother to baby in pregnant women).

Each of them is dangerous, but the last one is the most merciless. It is the transmission of helminths through the placenta that has been most often recorded in Russia in recent years. A child can become infected at different stages of pregnancy.

A cat can be a carrier of infection; if you are scratched by a cat, you are not yet at risk of toxoplasmosis.

Therefore, doctors recommend that all women undergo an examination before conceiving to determine the presence of parasites in the body. After all, a patient suffering from toxoplasmosis may not even be aware of it for many years, and only during pregnancy will the parasites become active, infecting the embryo through the blood.

In cases where Toxoplasma larvae enter the human body through the mouth, they enter the lower intestines, from where they are carried through the blood vessels to the lymph nodes. They then spread throughout all internal organs, even penetrating the human nervous system.

Such routes of infection with toxoplasmosis are called oral. By eating meat products that have undergone insufficient heat treatment, you expose yourself to infection with this disease. Today, many farm animals are infected with toxoplasmosis, and by eating a steak with blood, a person risks getting sick within a few hours. Experts claim that 70% of the sick “ate” Toxoplasma larvae in “dirty” foods.

In second place is the method of transmission of infection through damaged skin. Anyone can get toxoplasmosis through such infection routes. The smallest open wound is a place where various bacteria can multiply, and toxoplasma is no exception. Cuts that appear during the cooking process or when cutting raw meat are especially dangerous. Therefore, doctors recommend promptly treating such wounds with antiseptics and protecting them with a plaster or rubber gloves.

How is toxoplasmosis transmitted during pregnancy?

Infection of the child occurs through the mother's blood. This method is considered one of the most dangerous, as it can lead to the death of the fetus. However, you should know that only an infection acquired by a woman during pregnancy is dangerous. If the disease was suffered 3 months or more before conception, then the child is not at risk of toxoplasmosis.

We keep a healthy cat at home until the end of pregnancy and feed only well-cooked meat

What do cats have to do with it?

The pathogen multiplies only in the intestines of cats and is excreted along with excrement. This causes the water, soil and cat litter to become infected. Through cat feces, Toxoplasma enters the body of pigs, cows, sheep, birds and rodents.

In an ideal world, Toxoplasma has three “transitions”: from the cat to the environment, from there to the mouse and back to the cat. To be on the safe side, the infection tries to settle in the mouse’s nerve cells and controls its behavior. Infected rodents become insane and unreasonably brave. The infection forces them to do everything to find the cat and go out to meet it.

Humans can replace mice in the life cycle of Toxoplasma. Perhaps this is why we adore cats too. However, for infection this path is a dead end: a cat can only get sick by eating something contaminated.

Precautionary measures

In order to protect yourself from toxoplasmosis, you can and should:

• wash all vegetables, fruits, herbs, not only from the garden, but also purchased ones;
• clean the cat litter box regularly, you can do it every day;
• do not come into contact with cat feces with bare hands, use gloves;
• After cleaning the cat litter, be sure to wash your hands, regardless of whether they were protected by gloves or not.

To prevent your indoor cat from becoming infected with Toxoplasma:

• do not feed her raw meat;
• do not allow digging in the soil intended for the dacha;
• periodically do a test for toxoplasma for preventive purposes.

Any domestic cat can become infected. And even more so when walking. An animal can catch toxoplasma when it catches and eats birds and mice. Or when he walks down the street and then licks the fur that already has toxoplasma on it. This parasite begins to develop fully and live an active life only when it enters a living organism. You can prevent it from getting in: you just need to remember about hygiene, timely cleaning of the tray and periodic visits to the veterinarian.

How does a person become infected?

You can catch toxoplasmosis by cleaning a cat's litter box, petting a sick cat, or by eating poorly washed vegetables and half-cooked meat that contain toxoplasma cysts. The child becomes infected from the infected mother through the placenta.

After entering the human body, the infection forms so-called pseudocysts in the skeletal muscles, heart and brain. That is, it forms a shell in the soft tissues and hides under it. Cells of the immune system do not penetrate this capsule and the pathogen can live in it for years. The infection is activated when the immune system becomes weak.

Toxoplasmosis from cat to human

It is indeed possible to become infected with toxoplasmosis from a cat, even from a domestic cat that does not go outside at all. But this parasitic disease is transmitted without the direct intervention of animals. Options for how you can become infected:

• Direct contact with cat feces.
• Do not clean your cat's litter box for a long time.
• Eat half-raw meat.
• Forgetting to wash vegetables and fruits taken directly from the garden.

Not only pregnant women can catch toxoplasmosis; it can be transmitted to anyone. But it is precisely for women bearing children that this disease is most dangerous. For others, it passes quickly, without causing any additional harm, but the fetus developing in the womb may suffer. Therefore, during pregnancy, it is important to obtain information on how to test a cat for toxoplasmosis. Then analyze and take appropriate measures. Or, if the disease cannot be identified, start taking precautions just in case.

It is important to understand that you cannot just get infected. Toxoplasma will not be transmitted to a person who simply strokes and cuddles his beloved animal.

This requires direct contact with feces, which most people diligently avoid. If you are afraid, conduct an express check of the animal at a veterinary clinic, and also take the test yourself (blood is taken for Toxoplasma) at your own.

Will you have to give the cat away?

Of course not. An outdoor cat is more likely to carry toxoplasmosis, so it is better to keep the animal indoors.

Those at risk should follow simple rules:

• Make sure your cat's litter is changed daily. Toxoplasma is active for five days after excretion in feces.
• If possible, delegate the replacement of the tray filler, or at least do it with gloves.
• Do not have a cat during pregnancy or illness.
• Do not touch stray animals.
• Feed your pets only canned food, avoid raw or undercooked meat.

Symptoms of toxoplasmosis in cats

You may not even know that your pet has become infected with toxoplasmosis. There are three forms of the disease:

• subacute
  – is practically asymptomatic;
• chronic
  - does not give clear manifestations, but the animal may look lethargic, lose body weight, and refuse to eat;
• acute
  - manifests itself with symptoms similar to a cold.

For an acute course, the typical manifestations in cats are:

• discharge from the nose and eyes;
• cough;
• sneezing and shortness of breath;
• digestive disorders;
• general weakness;
• lack of appetite;
• temperature increase;
• body trembling;
• in animals with low immunity, convulsions are possible when parasites are heavily spread.

Important! Most often, pronounced symptoms appear after the period of spread of oocysts.

Thus, most often the disease in cats occurs unnoticed by the owners. But, if there are any symptoms indicating the possible presence of toxoplasma in the animal’s body, consultation with a veterinarian is mandatory.

For cats during pregnancy, Toxoplasma is just as dangerous as for humans, therefore, even at the stage of planning breeding, it is worth visiting a veterinarian and establishing the status of the cat (whether its body has had contact with Toxoplasma gondii).

Prevention measures

To prevent infection with toxoplasmosis, you must not neglect the following precautions:

• Vegetables, fruits and berries should be washed thoroughly before eating them.
• It is strictly forbidden to drink water from questionable sources, as it may be contaminated. It is permissible to drink only filtered or boiled water.
• Cutting boards for meat and fish and other kitchen utensils should be washed with soap. These items should not be used for other products.
• Meat must be fully cooked. It must be remembered that rare steaks can cause serious damage to the body. In addition to toxoplasmosis, you can also catch other parasitic infections.
• Meat should be stored in the freezer at temperatures below zero for several days before cooking. Deep freezing does not guarantee that the parasites will die, since their complete destruction is possible at temperatures below 25C, but it will help to significantly reduce the risk.
• Seafood should not be eaten undercooked, as it can be contaminated with toxoplasma through the dirty water in which it lived.
• When working at your dacha, you should wear protective gloves. After contact with soil or sand, be sure to wash your hands.
• You must wear gloves when cleaning your cat's litter box. It is best for pregnant women to refrain from such manipulations.

Parasites are afraid of cleanliness

Specifics of the disease

The insidiousness of toxoplasmosis is that it occurs without obvious symptoms. However, its consequences may be unpredictable for the person who becomes infected with it. To protect yourself from infection, you need to undergo a diagnostic examination and take preventive measures at certain periods of your life.

In most cases, Toxoplasma is carried by animals, in particular cats. This is due to the fact that they eat raw infected meat as food, catch rodents and birds, and then transmit the infection to humans. In order to become infected, you just need to pet the fluffy one or let it rub against your clothes or shoes - the germs will immediately get on them.

Infection occurs when a cat eats uncooked food.

If a person is healthy and his immune system is not weakened, the body will quickly fight off the infection. To do this, he needs to develop antibodies that will destroy the causative agents of toxoplasmosis, so in most cases, the infected person does not even suspect that he is infected.

The antibodies produced by the body's immune system will protect a person from re-invasion throughout his life.

There is a misconception that people who have had toxoplasmosis are its carriers. In fact, there are antibodies in their blood, but this does not pose a danger to others. They are also transmitted to the baby from the mother, so if a woman has ever suffered toxoplasmosis, her child will be protected from it during the first year of life.