We often hear from various channels: cats have 9 lives. There are many stories and legends around the world about cats having nine lives, attributed to their ability to jump and land and being good at climbing and jumping animals. I believe that everyone also wants to know how cats can infect humans with parasites? This question will be explained to you next.

How can cats transmit parasites to humans?

Cats are mainly infected by Toxoplasma gondii. In addition, cats are also the host of many kinds of parasites, such as Fasciolopsis ginger and so on. These parasites that can be transmitted orally become food-borne parasites. Toxoplasma gondii is very harmful to the human body. Pregnant women should especially not keep cats and dogs as pets. Toxoplasma gondii can cause congenital Toxoplasma gondii in babies. disease, infant malformations, such as exposed intestines. According to research, congenital toxoplasmosis will cause symptoms or deformities in babies at birth, with a mortality rate of 12%, and 80% of survivors have mental development disorders and 50% have visual impairments. Typical symptoms of congenital toxoplasmosis are hydrocephalus, brain calcifications, retinochoroiditis, and mental and motor disorders. In addition, it may be accompanied by systemic manifestations, including fever, rash, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, anemia, myocarditis, epilepsy, etc. in the neonatal period. Confluent pneumonia is a common cause of death.

The transmission channels are as follows:

Path 1: Cats can also be infected orally and can also be transmitted to humans. Cats swallow infectious eggs or larvae when eating or drinking water, or eat larvae-containing larvae and pass them on to humans, such as cockroaches.

Path 2: There are also parasites in cats’ mothers that can also be transmitted to humans. The larvae infect human fetuses through the placenta, such as roundworms and hookworms. It is also possible to transmit infections such as Toxoplasma to lactating kittens through milk.

Path 3: Cats can also infect humans through skin infections. The infective larvae directly penetrate the cat's skin, burrow into the human body, and metamorphose to the parasitic site to parasitize, such as hookworm larvae.

Path 4: Cats can also transmit it to their owners through intermediate hosts. For example, mosquitoes can transmit heartworm larvae.

Path 5: There is another type of infection that can also be transmitted to humans. If a healthy cat comes into direct contact with a sick cat, parasites, such as mites, lice, fleas, etc., will be transmitted from the sick cat to humans.

Path 6: Cats can be infected through indirect contact and can also be transmitted to humans, because parasites can live in the external environment for a period of time. For example, mites on sick cats can survive in the daily necessities used by them for more than ten days. If these items are not disinfected and used directly by healthy cats, parasites will be transferred to healthy cats. There are also cases where owners who have touched sick cats directly touch healthy cats without disinfecting their hands may spread parasites.