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A Trojan Horse: How Feline Toxoplasmosis Spreads Around the World

In recent years, when we hear about toxoplasmosis, we inevitably associate it with cats. Although it can also manifest in other common pets such as dogs, the preferred target of the parasite, technically known as toxoplasma gondii, is the cat. Humans can be reassured (we have enough to worry about with other viruses) because if we are infected, we probably won’t even notice it (more than half of the world’s population is thought to have developed antibodies against this virus). In severe cases, it can cause quite serious illnesses such as psychosis or schizophrenia, but usually it is a parasite that particularly affects livestock.

It is said to be ” a zombie parasite“. This is explained by the fact that it easily penetrates the stomach of cats. First, it selects mice and other rodents that cats tend to feed on as hosts. It then seeps into their stomachs and intestines and multiplies through their excrement. Also, the waste products of these animals tend not to smell at all, allowing them to attract more prey and inhabit other bodies.

This is explained by Athena Aktipis, professor at the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, who confirmed in an interview with Salon magazine that it is precisely by smell that rodents approach the cat’s territory. , and lures them into the trap of their prey. Everyone wins: the cat because it hunts more and the parasite because it reproduces in many more bodies.

It first targets immune cells to exist there secretly and infiltrates the rest of the body.

People, especially those who live with pets, are susceptible to infection, but there is no need to worry: as we said, it rarely causes complications in healthy people, although in people with weakened immune systems or in babies born to women who was infected during pregnancy it can cause damage to the brain, lungs and other vital organs.

A Trojan horse

Scientists have recently discovered that the trick used by the toxoplasmosis parasite to survive and reproduce has made it one of nature’s most dominant life forms. In fact, in the United States alone, over 60 million people have this tiny host in their lives, making it king of the protozoan world. It uses “Trojan Horse” tactics, as scientists have dubbed it, by first targeting immune cells, its natural enemies, and then secretly settling there and infiltrating the rest of the body.

What has been most conducive to its rapid and widespread spread is the domestication of cats and the globalization of trade.

New research published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe has shown that Toxoplasma gondii uses a protein called GRA28 to make itself undetectable by the body’s defense mechanisms and then “reprogram” the immune system. First, it attacks the phagocytes,” well » microbes that protect the body against foreign substances. More precisely, it acquires dendritic cells that stick to it “behind” it so as not to be recognized by the other cells, as if it were disguising itself so as not to be detected.

It is really surprising how this parasite manages to steal the identity of immune cells in such a clever way.“, says Antonio Barragan, lead author of the study, as reported by Salon. ” We believe these findings may explain why toxoplasmosis spreads so efficiently through the body when it infects humans and animals. »

Another study published in Nature Communications, which sequenced the parasite’s genome, found that it was the domestication of cats and the globalization of trade that were most conducive to its rapid and widespread spread. Ultimately, as with the pandemics that have plagued us for some time, it is amazing how the lesser biological agents take advantage of the social conditions of the times to thrive and get away with it.

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