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HAND ALERT! HAND ALERT! STATUS: V EMERGENCY! MOBILIZE TO HOTZONE!

This is from an article in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, 21/9/03:

“DANGERRR – YOUR PET CAT COULD ALTER YOUR PERSONALITY

“They may look like lovable pets but…domestic cats are being blamed by scientists for infecting up to half the population with a parasite that can alter people’s personalities.

“The startling figures emerge from studies into toxoplasma gondii, a parasite carried by almost all the country’s feline population.

“They show that half of humans carry the parasite in their brains and that infected people may undergo slow but crucial changes in their behaviour. Infected men, suggests one new study, tend to become more aggressive, scruffy, antisocial and are less attractive.

“…The findings have angered Ireland’s cat lovers, who have dismissed the study as anti-feline propaganda…

“…Lindy Vaughan, a lecturer in veterinary medicine at University College Dublin, said once you are infected with the parasite you carry it for life. ‘I don’t know if it really can alter personalities but it can cause cogenital birth defects in unborn babies and even death for mothers,’ said Vaughan, who is researching toxoplasma-induced abortions in Irish sheep.

“The research – conducted at universities in Britain, the Czech Republic and America – was sponsored by the Stanley Research Medical Institute of Maryland, a leading centre for the study of mental illness. The institute has already published research that people infected with the toxoplasma parasite are at greater risk of developing schizophrenia and manic depression.

“The study into more subtle changes in human personality is being carried out by Professor Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague.

“…Infected men appeared to [become] less well groomed, undesirable loners who were more willing to fight. They tended to be more suspicious and jealous. ‘They tended to dislike following rules,’ said Flegr.

“He also discovered that people infected with toxoplasma had delayed reaction times and are at greater risk of being involved in car accidents. ‘Toxoplasma infection could represent a serious and highly underestimated economic and public health problem,’ he said.

“Toxoplasma moves in a natural cycle between rats and cats. Rats acquire it from contact with cat faeces and cats re-acquire it from hunting infected rats. It has long been known that humans can become infected through close contact with cats.

“…Until now, however, the parasite has always been thought harmless to healthy people because their immune systems could suppress the infection. But this view seems certain to change, especially in the light of research at Oxford University.

“Scientists there have found that when the parasite invades rats it reprograms their brains, reducing their fear of cats. It is this ability to destroy natural inhibitions that is thought to be at work in humans.”

Casts a new light on Greg’s adventures, and his relationship with Tony, doesn’t it?

Filth #13