toxoplasmosis

14 Stories

Hawaii's Monk Seals Face New Threat: Cats
It's Cats vs. Monk Seals
in Hawaii
Oct 24, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

It's Cats vs. Monk Seals in Hawaii

Feline feces causes a real threat to endangered creature

(Newser) - The feral cat population has exploded in Hawaii, where they are not native and face no natural predators—and this could spell disaster for the endangered monk seal. That's because cat poop often contains a parasite called Toxoplasmosa gondii, and when sewage and polluted runoff carry the infected feces...

Nasty Parasite in Cat Poo May Be a Cancer Fighter
Nasty Parasite in Cat Poo
May Be a Cancer Fighter
NEW STUDY
Jul 26, 2016 8:31 AM CDT

Nasty Parasite in Cat Poo May Be a Cancer Fighter

In mice, it fights ovarian tumors

(Newser) - Again and again, research on the parasite toxoplasma gondii, commonly found in cat feces, reveals just how nasty and widespread it is. It's linked to rage disorder , might boost one's risk of schizophrenia and other mental disorders, and in an odd and probably fatal twist, makes the mice...

Parasite Found in Cat Poop Linked to Rage Disorder
Parasite Found in Cat Poop Linked to Rage Disorder
NEW STUDY
Mar 31, 2016 9:23 AM CDT

Parasite Found in Cat Poop Linked to Rage Disorder

Toxoplasmosis has been linked to host of neurological disorders

(Newser) - People prone to angry outbursts are more than twice as likely to be infected with a common parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which is often spread through cat feces. So report researchers in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , who looked for circulating antibodies to the parasite in 358 adults with intermittent...

Why CEO Hasn't Cut Drug's 5K% Price Hike

Turing chief Martin Shkreli says it will be a 'long' process to figure out demand

(Newser) - As of a week ago , pharmaceuticals purveyor Martin Shkreli hadn't kept his promise to lower the cost of a toxoplasmosis drug after outcry over its 5,000% price hike over the summer. Nothing much has changed since—except now the Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO is explaining why Daraprim is still...

Here's How Price-Gouging Drug CEO Says He Sleeps at Night

'You know, Ambien' suggests Martin Shkreli is A-OK with exorbitant price hike

(Newser) - Price gouging for a tuberculosis drug may have been walked back , but the CEO of another pharmaceutical company is standing firm with his decision to drastically raise the price of a drug that treats the potentially deadly parasitic infection toxoplasmosis. Turing Pharmaceutical's Martin Shkreli—an ex-hedge fund manager who...

Drug's Price Hike From $16 to $360 Doesn't Last

But CEO behind another huge price hike stands firm

(Newser) - A huge hike in the price of a tuberculosis drug has been rolled back amid an outcry over the 5,000% leap in the price of another drug. A nonprofit group affiliated with Purdue University sold the rights to cycloserine to Rodelis Therapeutics on Aug. 19 , but it demanded them...

Drug's Price Changed From $13.50 a Tablet to $750

Daraprim move doesn't go over well

(Newser) - "This isn't the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business. It really doesn't make sense to get any criticism for this." The "this" Martin Shkreli is referring to is the price hike his company instituted after it...

Your Cat Could Be Clawing at Your Mental Health
Your Cat Could Be Clawing
at Your Mental Health
NEW STUDY
Jun 10, 2015 7:29 AM CDT

Your Cat Could Be Clawing at Your Mental Health

Cat parasite may boost risk of schizophrenia, other mental illnesses

(Newser) - Cat owners, beware: A parasite found in feline feces could not only make you physically sick, but also mentally so, according to new research . Cats carry a parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii, which can be passed to humans through feces. As many as 60 million Americans may carry the parasite,...

Beluga Whales Infected With Cat Parasite

Poses health threat to Inuits

(Newser) - The Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats, can cause rats to stop fearing the felines; in humans, it can cause blindness. Now, beluga whales in the Arctic have been discovered to have the parasite—and researchers fear it could infect the people who eat them. "The only way to...

Parasite Makes Mice Fearless of Cats

In an adaptation that probably doesn't end well for the rodents

(Newser) - Good news for cats: Mice are no longer afraid of them—at least mice that have been infected with a parasite common in mammals. Not only does Toxoplasma gondii leave mice less afraid and thus more likely to venture into striking distance, the effects last after the parasite has cleared,...

Cat Poop Raises Owners' Suicide Risk

 Study: Cat Poop 
 Raises Owners' 
 Suicide Risk 
in case you missed it
Jul 7, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

Study: Cat Poop Raises Owners' Suicide Risk

Parasite infection linked to higher rate of attempts

(Newser) - More bad press for cat poop: A parasite found in cat feces has been linked to an increased likelihood of owners committing suicide, reports NPR . The study of more than 45,000 Danish women over the course of 30 years found that those infected with toxoplasmosis (possibly from changing cat...

Your Cat's Poop May Be Blowing Your Mind

Jaroslav Felgr's quest to study Toxoplasma gondii

(Newser) - Jaroslav Flegr has a theory: Cat poop is rewiring the human brain, including his own. The Prague-based biologist has been pursuing the theory since the early '90s, but he's only recently beginning to garner scientific respect, with some of the biggest names in neurobiology backing him up, the...

'Better' Pork Carries Big Health Risks
 'Better' Pork Carries 
 Big Health Risks  
OPINION
Apr 10, 2009 9:33 AM CDT

'Better' Pork Carries Big Health Risks

Free-range pork may relieve your guilt, but bother your tummy

(Newser) - Free-range pork sounds better for everyone involved, especially the pig. But exposure to the outdoors means exposure to dangerous pathogens, from salmonella to toxoplasmosis to the deadly parasite trichinosis, writes James McWilliams for the New York Times. "Free range is like piggy day care, a thoughtfully arranged system designed...

Your Cat Will Not Smother Your Baby

(Newser) - A column suggesting that housecats murder babies out of jealousy has earned the Houston Chronicle a lot of, well, catcalls. It's not true, the paper now reports. “It’s funny that someone would still actually think that is true,” said a veterinarian and SPCA official. “That is...

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