Trap; Euthanize Feral Cats - Says Top US Veterinarian

A Top Veterinarian’s Perspective on the Feral Cat Issue

By ABA, on March 27, 2013

At the Mic: Brian Monk

Brian Monk is a veterinarian, birder, photographer, and professional orchid grower and lecturer. He received his DVM from Virginia Tech in 1997 and currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Floirida, with his wife Mary-Margaret and his 5 rescued cats. 

 Let me make myself perfectly clear:  I love cats. I am a veterinarian, quite a few of my patients are cats, and I count five of them as my pets. I believe that cats have an inherent value to us, both as living things and as companions. I also love birds, and have been watching them before I was old enough to know what they were. Without question, birds also have inherent value, both to our planet and our hobby. My position as both a birder and a veterinarian lends me a unique perspective about the current controversy surrounding feral cats, and the various solutions offered up to address this issue.

A recent study has determined that 1.4-3.7 billion birds are killed by feral cats per year, and its publication has pitted wildlife conservation groups against feline advocacy groups. The controversy centers around the most important question, “What is the
solution to this problem of cat overpopulation?” The only thing that these two groups seem to agree on is that feral cat overpopulation exists.

Feral cats lead short and brutal lives. Kittens suffer a 50-75% mortality rate.  Disease is prevalent in feral cat populations, as expected.  They are plagued with parasitism by various worms, arthropods, and protozoa; viral diseases like Feline Leukemia, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, Herpes, Distemper, and Rabies; bacterial infections such as Toxoplasmosis, and Haemobartonellosis. Traumatic injury is common. Feral cats suffer....

Doctor's Professional Comprehensive Conclusions

This problem of feral cats is a difficult one. Although it is only a part of the greater question of avian conservation, it is obviously an important part. Further, it seems to be a part where real progress could be made, with benefits that are not so vague as biodiversity for biodiversity’s sake.

 Improving feline health in general, while keeping our precious wildlife safe, is a noble goal, that we can only approach ignobly. Feral cats exist because of man’s ego and carelessness. But TNR does not adequately address the issue. It does not ease feline suffering or eliminate feline predation on our wildlife to a point that is acceptable, to me as a veterinarian and a conservationist, or to anyone else who considers the facts. 

 As difficult as it may be, the elimination of feral cats via Trap and Euthanasia is the only truly viable solution.

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#Official Toxoplasmosis Canadian Government Data Sheet Falls Short - Why?

Toxoplasma gondii - Pathogen Safety Data Sheet

SECTION I - INFECTIOUS AGENT

NAME: Toxoplasma gondii

SYNONYM OR CROSS REFERENCE: Toxoplasmosis, congenital toxoplasmosis, toxoplasma infection ^{Footnote1Footnote2}.

CHARACTERISTICS: Toxoplasma gondii belong to the phylum Apicomplexa and family Sarcocystidae. They are obligate intracellular parasitic protozoa ^Footnote3. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite of birds and mammals. Felines are the only definitive host and the only animals that pass infective oocysts in their feces. Warm-blooded animals, including humans, are intermediate hosts that harbour tissue cysts in their bodies. Three major infectious stages and major morphological forms occur: oocyst-containing two sporocysts and four sporozoites each, quickly-multiplying tachyzoites, and slow-growing bradyzoites contained in persistent tissue cysts ^Footnote3. Infection is most often initiated through the ingestion of oocysts containing sporozoites or cysts containing bradyzoites in contaminated food or water. Following ingestion, the sporozoites or bradyzoites invade the intestinal epithelium and differentiate to tachyzoites, which disseminate and replicate within the new host. In feline infections, T.gondii sexual reproduction is enteroepithelial and asexual reproduction is extraintestinal. Intermediate hosts only experience extraintestinal infection ^Footnote4. Generally, oocysts are spherical and measure 10x12 µm, sporozoites measure 2x6 µm, tachyzoites are crescent-shaped and 2x6 µm, tissue cysts are spheroid and have a diameter of 5 µm - 70 µm, bradyzoites measure 7x1.5 µm ^{Footnote4Footnote5}.

SECTION II - HAZARD IDENTIFICATION

PATHOGENICITY/TOXICITY: Toxoplasma gondii infection is usually non-pathogenic in immunocompetent adults. The major pathogenic factor is proliferation of tachyzoites, destroying host cells faster than they can regenerate. In acute infection, mild symptoms can arise, including fever, rash, headache, lymphadenopathy, organomegaly (liver and/or spleen), weight loss, weakness, pneumonia, and myalgia ^Footnote6. More severe symptoms are rare and mostly affect immunocompromised patients, although they can also develop in immunocompetent individuals. These include retinochoroiditis, and severe encephalitis ^Footnote6. Congenital infection can result in abortion or stillbirth, and live births may demonstrate the congenital toxoplasmosis syndrome - mental retardation, malformation, retinochoroiditis, strabismus, nystagmus, microphthalmia, and cataracts ^{Footnote6Footnote7}. Severity of transplacental infection is inversely proportional to gestational age, but the rate of vertical transmission is more frequent as the pregnancy progresses ^Footnote7. Persisting tissue cysts in a victim’s brain may cause psychosis ^Footnote8. Ocular toxoplasmosis is responsible for 30% – 60% of retinochoroiditis cases ^Footnote6.

Awful Human Tragedy 

Read More and/or Listen To Talk Show Below -

Important Editor's Note

Canadians should be terribly concerned as their government research (above) in this area falls way short of the scientific studies, reports, policies and conclusions by international authorities. Consider the Official US - Centre Disease Control - concludes that  toxoplasmosis is the second leading cause of foodborne deaths, and we can only isolate and report ONE???

That makes no sense whatsoever as the comparative gap between US and Canadian findings is just too large. Someone must be wrong, and given the other international research, the weight of evidence clearly favours the American conclusions. Begging the next question: Why are we so far behind in this area?

Australian Federal Government Meanwhile Spending $1 Billion To Eradicate Feral Cats 

As feral cats are the primary source of the parasite - toxoplasma gondii that creates the the "toxoplasmosis disease" in warm blooded animals, Australia has put this issue on the front burner with near drastic measures to clean up this health and economic problem in their country. Again this suggests that the Canadian research and reports leave much to be desired in light of growing international awareness and stiff actions.

Moreover, the hype and crazy concerns are now being raised in more "unreliable secondary media sources" , that are unfettered and uncensored zanny Americans (Listen to the Radio Cast below) by vested or special interests. Normally we would take such overly dramatic discussions in earnest, but unfortunately there is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests that even in its latent form this parasite is actually eating away at our neurological connectors and structure. 

Whatever it is up to - it simply can't be good for the hosts, and in fact could be the doomsday bug many have predicted in the past. A very scary nightmare coming true... 

  

What Some Pundits Now Call 
"The Zombie Virus" 

Listen Here To find Out Why

TRUTH DENIED?

Funny? Crazy? True?Zany?

Toxoplasmosis #KILLS! - Deadly Car Crashes Increase Nearly Three Fold In Scientific Study

Feral Cats Spread Deadly Toxoplasmosis

Research article -BMC Infectious Diseases

How Much of this is caused by Toxoplasmosis? Link to More Gruesome Pictures? 

Increased incidence of traffic accidents in Toxoplasma-infected military drivers and protective effect RhD molecule revealed by a large-scale prospective cohort study

Abstract

Latent toxoplasmosis, protozoan parasitosis with prevalence rates from 20 to 60% in most populations, is known to impair reaction times in infected subjects, which results, for example, in a higher risk of traffic accidents in subjects with this life-long infection. Two recent studies have reported that RhD-positive subjects, especially RhD heterozygotes, are protected against latent toxoplasmosis-induced impairment of reaction times. In the present study we searched for increased incidence of traffic accidents and for protective effect of RhD positivity in 3890 military drivers.

Background

Methods

Male draftees who attended the Central Military Hospital in Prague for regular entrance psychological examinations between 2000 and 2003 were tested for Toxoplasma infection and RhD phenotype at the beginning of their 1 to1.5-year compulsory military service. Subsequently, the data on Toxoplasma infection and RhD phenotype were matched with those on traffic accidents from military police records and the effects of RhD phenotype and Toxoplasma infection on probability of traffic accident was estimated with logistic regression.

Results

We confirmed, using for the first time a prospective cohort study design, increased risk of traffic accidents in Toxoplasma-infected subjects and demonstrated a strong protective effect of RhD positivity against the risk of traffic accidents posed by latent toxoplasmosis. Our results show that RhD-negative subjects with high titers of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies had a probability of a traffic accident of about 16.7%, i.e. a more than six times higher rate than Toxoplasma-free or RhD-positive subjects.

Conclusion

Our results showed that a common infection by Toxoplasma gondii could have strong impact on the probability of traffic accident in RhD negative subjects. The observed effects could provide not only a clue to the long-standing evolutionary enigma of the origin of RhD polymorphism in humans (the effect of balancing selection), but might also be the missing piece in the puzzle of the physiological function of the RhD molecule.

Background

A protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii infects 20–60% of the population in most countries, depending on climate, hygienic standards and cooking habits [1]. Postnatally acquired toxoplasmosis in immunocompetent subjects causes mild disease, acute toxoplasmosis, which turns spontaneously into lifelong latent toxoplasmosis. Latent toxoplasmosis is characterized by the presence of the dormant cyst stage of the parasite mainly in the neural and muscular tissues and immunity against new Toxoplasma infections [2,3]. Latent toxoplasmosis in humans is considered as clinically asymptomatic [4,5].

 However, infected people have impaired reaction times [6] and about 2.6 times higher risk of traffic accidents [7,8], possibly as a result of manipulation activity ofToxoplasma aimed to increase the chance of transmission from the intermediate to the definitive host, i.e. from any bird or mammal species to any feline species, by predation...

...Read More of Complete Scientific Research:

Ask the question  - was Toxoplasmosis a major factor?

Important Editor's Note:

First, it won't be long before insurance companies and governments begin to start screening drivers as the cost of all this traffic carnage and death caused by toxoplasmosis rises, and is thus passed back to consumers. Just as governments screen older drivers for dementia, a disease with similar implications, so too will it become practical and mandatory to screen everyone, on a regular basis, for impairing diseases that could be more dangerous to road safety than excessive alcohol consumption.

(By the way, the FDA should ensure that all commercial airline pilots are regularly screened and cleared for any evidence of this parasite - we have no interest in ever boarding any plane piloted by an infected individual.) Do you??

The second very important point is " how many other accidents are being caused by toxoplasmosis? These could include numerous and various domestic, labour, and hunting deaths, to name a just few, which are simply passed off as "everyday random occurrences" by medical authorities presiding at the scene. But, they are not! For a much deeper root cause may or goes undetected by even the very best of our medical professionals and devices.Only the most apparent immediate cause is therefore reported into the system, with far-reaching implications.  

All this means the actual death toll attributable to toxoplasmosis is much higher than reported. Some scientists in this study suggest, that the annual figure may exceed 1 million, and that is much higher than the 750,000 deaths caused by the malaria parasite, or the Ebola virus. Something to think  about?  

Accidents are one concern, but scientists also raise issues around mental illness and suicides. A deranged killer may literally have something bugging them? This means that general declining social pathos can be traced to toxoplasmosis,thereby also making it a High Priority - National Security Risk. Another question to ask: could it hence be affecting combat troops and their performance?

Two inferences are clear from this study; much more research and testing is required to determine actual costs and casualties; much more screening and awareness needs to be brought to the general population, military and government as to the issues pertaining to this quiet, latent and oft times lethal parasite - toxoplasmosis! As Donald  Rumsfeld forewarns the real dangers often lie in the - "unknown, unknowns" - wise and brilliant words, we apply to this invisible creature owning dark existential intentions.

The Save Our Kids Toxoplasmosis Coalition

International Offices and Affiliates

"Today, is the beginning of tomorrows' wisdom"