... think of the possibilities ...
Posted on 04/19/2012 12:00:56 AM PDT by Hetty_Fauxvert
Cats are being struck down by a mystery disease that turns them into 'living robots'.
Their legs become rigid, giving them an odd, stiff gait, their personality changes and their tail stiffens and sticks out.
There is no known treatment or cure. The symptoms become progressively worse and the animals are put down when their suffering becomes too much.
The condition has baffled vets, as tests for numerous viruses have come back negative. Their best guess is that the pets caught the disease while out hunting.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Ignorant people in the Middle Ages believed cats to be evil. They tried to exterminate cats and got the Black Death as a result, as there were less cats around to control the disease spreading rodent population.
When “Mad Cow” disease broke in England, many of the animals went to rendering plants that also made pet food. This included pigs and cattle. It is not inconceivable that a prion is responsible for the “disease”. Toxoplasmosis or another parasite is also a high possibility. Just in the last ten years, several neurological affecting single celled parasites have been identified as pathogens in the veterinary field.
Toxoplasmosis can also cause of premature births:
http://phys.org/news/2010-10-prenatal-treatment-congenital-toxoplasmosis-brain.html
There is also a correlation with schizophrenia.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-links-strains-common-parasite-severe.html
The infection rate in the UK population is only 7% whereas 61% are infected in Brazil. The strain in Brazil is slightly different and possibly causes worse symptoms in the infected person.
The US rate is 25% - - coincidentally the same percentage that is hardcore left. Not saying there’s a connection but it would be extremely interesting to see a study examine what the makeup of that 25% in the US is in terms of Democrat vs. Republican party affiliation.
Mad Cow Disease?
But the big news here is that such huge percentages of the world's population are infected by Toxoplasmosa gondii and that it effects human behavior to the point that it may be a significant determining factor in the cultural differences between national cultures. Furthermore 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia - a truly devastating disease.
There are many causes of schizo....some genetic. Should we try to eliminate all the carriers too?
If we did that, then where would PJ and Charles get material for the DUmmie FUnnies?
... think of the possibilities ...
FWIW, I’m not expending too much worry on this one - none of my cats has been near Scotland.
Moderation in All Things... except when exterminating Liberalism.
Now cats with a similar condition have been found in Sweden and Austria
It has jumped the Channel.
Better tell TSA to put it on the no-fly list.
(Seriously, the disease doesn’t sound very communicable. If I were a betting man, I’d say it was a prion disease caused by the cats in question eating a local critter.)
“Their best guess is that the pets caught the disease while out hunting.”
You could be right about that. Me no like Prions AT ALL.
What seems to be a bad contributor to that type of disease is “cannabalism” eating your own kind. They think that’s what caused the mad cow disease, putting ground up animal by-products in the animal’s feed; and I read another article about a similar disease in some pacific island land (or some such!) where the victors would eat the brains of the defeated.
So, if you are going to be a cannibal, stick to the thigh meet.
I'll make a note of that.
Seriesly, based on my limited knowledge, self-proteins that go prion would be uniquely suited to infect the species they came from, so there may be something to your hypothesis.
I got all that info from a very long article that ran in the New Yorker mag. when that was really a huge story.
I was very scared about it because ever since I’ve been a kid I would eat a bite of the raw hamburger meat when making burgers. I mean literally one bite, but still I was freaking out.
I do seem to recall that all those 6 or 8 people who died in England, or at least most of them, had all eaten meat from one particular butcher. Now I can’t remember if they were ever able to figure anything out precisely.
Where has the PJ been lately.......
No argument. Hope they nail this one down fast.
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