A New Threat in the Food Chain

[LarryS]

Watching one of the programs on Discovery channel the other morning, I became aware, for the first time, of what may be a serious threat in our food chain.

An estimated 60,000,000 people in the USA alone are estimated to be infected with toxoplasmids, which enter the brain, largely from consumption of insufficiently cooked beef.

According to the story, there was knowledge that these infections were occuring, but it was not believed that the organisms caused any real problems. Now, evidence is developing that they are not harmless.

There seems to be no treatment for them in any case, and prevention seems to be the prudent choice.

I am surprised that "powers that be" didn't raise the flag about this problem earlier.

You can find plenty of references in the internet to toxoplasmids, but the long term effects of infections are still to be fully understood.

[Lavandula Girl]

Larry - the stuff I found on the web is mostly coming out of the former Soviet Union, I think. Do you remember which Discovery show you were watching? I'd be interested in hearing what they had to say about infection in the US...

[TennOC]

Infection by toxoplasmids is called toxoplasmosis and is most often transmitted by close association with cats, specifically their feces.

[G. Gordon Gumbo]

Yes, Larry ... please provide some links to cause and effects. My mother-in-law just passed away and the initial diagnosis is something to do with a protein mutation in her brain similar to mad cow disease, but not exactly that.

What exactly are toxoplasmids, how do they enter the brain, and what are the symptoms of their presence and activity? The disorder my MIL presumably suffered was horrid, had rapid onset and development, and was said to affect only one in one million persons worldwide. The tests are not back from IU Medical yet, so it's not 100% conclussive ... that's why my questions.

G3

[TennOC]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/toxoplasmosis/factsht_toxoplasmosis.htm

[LarryS]

By the way, that program was on Animal Planet, and the name of the series is
"The Most Extreme".

It is the segment on 'body snatchers', and will be aired today (Sunday, 10 June) at 16:00 hrs CDST.

I hope some of you have the time and opportunity to view this segment.

[Lavandula Girl]

Checked my Directv guide, and it's on at 5:PM here... I've called the tv for that time slot (a must in this house) ;) Thanks for the heads-up, Larry!

[LoreD]

I think I read an article somewhere about the dangers of "flushable kitty litter." The author said that people flushing cat poop down the toilet is a very real danger.

LoreD

[Lavandula Girl]

Okay - I watched the show, and despite the fact that the toxoplasmosis is probably a more real threat, the BOT FLY was what really skeeved me out... ugh! :eek:

How long do you think it'll be before some lawyer blames parasites for someone's road rage in an effort to get them off of a manslaughter charge?

[LarryS]

Okay - I watched the show, and despite the fact that the toxoplasmosis is probably a more real threat, the BOT FLY was what really skeeved me out... ugh! :eek:

How long do you think it'll be before some lawyer blames parasites for someone's road rage in an effort to get them off of a manslaughter charge?

The bot fly problem is nasty, isn't it? We are lucky that, in this part of the world, parasites of this type are not so very common.

Regarding parasites transmitted by cats and dogs, this is a bit more serious situation than one would think. There can be larvae in dog and cat feces that can enter the human body. Since animals like to defecate in sand boxes, infection of children is growing and can lead to blindness as the worms reach the eyes of the child. (Children seem to be more susceptible to this than adults.)

I am very much against allowing pets to run loose, both for the benefit of the pet, and perhaps more importantly for the wellbeing of neighbors.

[johno]

That's a good point you bring up about pets running loose, although I say that for more reasons than just parasites...

I went to no small expense to provide my dogs with large pens, and I also let them run under supervision, because they need that. I hate to see a dog spend it's life on a chain, but at the same time, we have to consider our neighbors in this day and age.

Let me tell you a story that happened just last week...
I'm sitting here at home, and there's a knock on the door. I look outside, and it's some plain-clothesed big guy and a sherrif's deputy. This should be interesting, I thought. I asked how could I help them, and the big guy asks in an accusatory tone if I'm the one who stuck a nasty note on his dog. I told him, no, what kind of dog was it? It turns out that his dog had gone to one of the neighbors places and killed all of their chickens, and they placed a nasty note on his black lab to inform him of it. About this time, I'm thinking, you're lucky they left a note, how dare you go around confronting everybody about it. Then the deputy chimes in, "I'm just here in case there's any trouble. You should know that if a dog destroys your property, you have a right to destroy the dog." Obviously the deputy and I were on the same wavelength. I told them, "No, I haven't even seen your dog. But if you'll have a look, you can see that I keep my dogs put up so this sort of thing doesn't happen." The big guy appeared to be shocked that the deputy and I weren't sympathetic.

Now, I live in the middle of nowhere, but I'm still aware that dogs have a wide range when left to run loose, and that they will be visiting the neighbors in the middle of the night. There they will be getting into trouble and depositing unknown parasites.

[bunkie]

i'd say it's how you train a dog. we have 3 dogs and 40 acres and they know the boundaries and do not go past them unless we give them permission. we have to train them about the fences, the road, the neighbor's longhorns, etc... right from the start. :O)

[johno]

I agree, but most people don't do that...

[LarryS]

i'd say it's how you train a dog. we have 3 dogs and 40 acres and they know the boundaries and do not go past them unless we give them permission. we have to train them about the fences, the road, the neighbor's longhorns, etc... right from the start. :O)


Unfortunately, easier said than done, Bunkie...My best friend has had problems with his neighbors dogs, but the neighbor refuses to do anything,and further says that his dogs wouldn't cross lines, wouldn't harm
JL's animals, etc.

Not long ago, those dogs broke into his chickenpen and killed 22 chickens.
JL (my friend) and his wife saw the dogs in the pen, since they could break in but couldnt get out so easily.

The sheriff said he had no intention of coming into the country to deal with dogs, and told JL to shoot them and return the collars to the owners. (Which he didnt do).

Now, if someone shot your dogs and returned the collars to you, he would be within his rights.

The responsible owner doesnt let it go this far.

[bunkie]

i dunno. we must be really lucky. the neighbor's dogs sometime run in the field across the road from us, but never come on our property, and our dogs always bark at them, but never leave our property.

now, if we could just get the neighbor's longhorns to stay home and quit breaking our fences...:O)