Zombie Animals and the Parasites That Control Them

Posted by Alex in Animal, Medicine on August 5, 2008 at 2:30 pm


Discover Magazine has a pretty neat run down of zombie animals and the parasites that control them. Did you know that parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii, which normally lives in cat, can also infect humans?

The rate of infection can vary wildly from country to country – only three percent of South Koreans are infected by toxoplasma, while as many as 80 percent of French people are carriers …

Toxoplasmosis, researchers have found, might make people more likely to be schizophrenic, and can change personality in subtle ways. One researcher found that infected men were more aggressive and jealous, women were more outgoing, and perhaps more seriously, both had slower reaction times and were in more traffic accidents.

Link [Flash gallery] – Thanks Andrew Moseman!

(Photo: Blue Diego)


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COMMENT

8 comments to "Zombie Animals and the Parasites That Control Them"

  1. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    August 5th, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    This is nothing new. But it's still scary.

    I bet this is why people whose houses are crawling with cats are also kind of crazy. But did they get crazy from the parasites... or did they accumulate cats because they were crazy to start with?

  2. Alnitak
    August 5th, 2008 at 11:42 pm

    Toxoplasmosis is known to prevent women from getting pregnant. If the woman seeks medical help and gets rid of the virus, then she can conceive...
    I've known people in this situation, is known across the border. I had no idea, however, it affected the mood!!!
    Extra scary.. -.-

  3. Warenwirtschaft
    August 6th, 2008 at 1:19 am

    How scary. Never heard that before. Can't believe that my cat could ever be a zombie cat. By the way that's really scaring me, because I really love cats.

  4. JC
    August 6th, 2008 at 1:54 am

    The article talks about bugs also. It´s very interesting.

  5. Thomas
    August 6th, 2008 at 9:39 am

    Toxoplasmosis is an odd one. It will makes women collect cats, and is most likely the cause of the "crazy cat lady" phenomenon, but also affects rodents, making them unafraid of cats and sometimes even attracted to the smell of cat urine.

  6. Liapey
    August 6th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    It's obviously made by cat scientists. It gives cats a home and makes food easier to catch. Anyone else the the proof of conspiracy?

    On a more serious note, Thats creepy.

  7. Melissa
    August 6th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    Toxoplasmosis is why pregnant women are advised not to change cat litter boxes if they can at all avoid it.

  8. Jimbo
    August 6th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    I wish they had a non-flash version. I despise it!


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