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Category: Pets
Thoughts on the New Bird Flu H7N9 & Its Animal Connection
Much of the United States is mesmerized by the belligerent squawks from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and the volatile tension straddling the Korean peninsula, but I’m more concerned about what is happening in China right now and the troubling trickle of news on a new bird flu strain H7N9.
Man’s Best Friend, the Turkana Tribe & a Gruesome Parasite
Dogs are dirty, dirty animals. I know because I’ve had several, which currently includes a mud-loving, cockroach-catching, drooly mess of a boxer who enjoys nothing more than sleeping her way over every soft surface in my house. The fact that dogs also transmit diseases, and an incredible variety of them at that, does not help matters! Parasites, viruses, bacterial and fungal infections! To their owners! To me, maybe you, maybe your friends! Your relationship with your pet is, in short, a lot richer than you could ever imagine. In light of this, I have a real doozy of a story about the relationship between pet dogs and a miserable little parasite set in the barren desert of northwest Kenya.
Consider the Carpaccio: Looking at Toxoplasmosis
A parasite that infects the human brain, subtly changing its personality and social behavior, and capable of passing from mother to infect an infant in utero? That is the essence of a body horror, but this little rascal isn’t fiction. And it gets better: this parasite is considered to be one of the most successful parasites in the world due to its widespread, global distribution as well as its capacity to infect nearly every type of body tissue in all warm-blooded vertebrates (a). Schedule a phone conference with Spielberg and Cruise ASAP, guys, we’ve got the next sci-fi-action blockbuster on our hands (brains?). We’re looking at the ubiquitous protozoa Toxoplasma gondii and research on its capacity to modulate human personality and behavior.
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Science Seeker Award
Open Lab 2012
