Prevention and Treatment of Toxoplasmosis Infection During Dog Pregnancy

First, pay attention to food hygiene; meat must be thoroughly cooked, and raw meat must be kept away from contaminating cooked food.

Second, cats should be kept indoors and fed cooked food or commercial cat food, and not allowed to hunt outside. This is because cats become infected by eating infected mice or birds, or by eating food contaminated with cat feces.

Third, pay attention to daily hygiene; remove cat feces every day, and wash hands carefully after contact with animal waste.

Fourth, unless a pregnant woman's serum test proves that she has already had a toxoplasmosis infection, she should avoid contact with cats and their feces during pregnancy.

Fifth, toxoplasmosis infection can be treated with a variety of simple and effective drugs, such as sulfonamides plus pyrimethamine, and spiramycin, etc. Treatment must be carried out according to a doctor's orders; timely treatment of infection in pregnant women can roughly reduce the chance of fetal infection.

The first is eating undercooked meat, especially pork and mutton. Almost all mammals and birds, such as rodents, pigs, sheep, cattle, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, etc., can transmit Toxoplasma, and the infection rate is very high. The main source of human infection comes from the meat of these animals. If the temperature for hot pot meat is not high enough and the time is too short, the Toxoplasma in it is not killed, and there is a risk of infection. Contamination from raw meat or cutting boards used for meat can also transmit it. Contaminated sheep's and cow's milk can also transmit it. The relatively low Toxoplasma infection rate among the Chinese population mentioned above may be related to the Chinese habit of eating cooked meat.

Dogs can also transmit Toxoplasma, but their feces and waste are not infectious, and if dog meat is not eaten, there is no transmission. Some people say that "dogs are closely related to humans and are one of the important sources of human infection," and some people blame the family dog when their child is born with "intellectual disability, congenital heart disease, or an extra finger." These claims are unfounded.

Infected cat feces are an important source of infection. Cats and felines are the definitive hosts of Toxoplasma; infected cats shed oocysts in their feces, generally for 1 week to 20 days, and rarely longer; this period is the infectious period.

Surveys around the world show that about 1% of cat feces contain Toxoplasma oocysts. The oocysts in cat feces must develop in the external environment for 2 to 5 days before they become infectious, so when cat feces are handled is very important. Oocysts can survive in water and moist soil for several months or longer, so food, drinking water, and even dust contaminated by cat feces can infect people if swallowed. In areas where meat is completely cooked, felines are an important source of human infection. However, some people suggest eliminating domestic cats to control toxoplasmosis, which is unrealistic. This is because many other animals that serve as intermediate hosts can also spread it.

For example, many pastures have very few cats, and yet many cattle and sheep are infected; and there are also individual islands in the world with no cats, where the infection rate among island residents is still very high. Therefore, an important domestic book, Human Parasitology, says: because the infection rate among livestock serving as intermediate hosts is very high, as a source of human infection, contamination from cat feces is less important than eating undercooked meat.

Toxoplasma infection in pregnant women can be transmitted to the fetus, causing congenital infection. Because congenital infection in the fetus may produce serious consequences, it is very important. However, only pregnant women who have not been infected with Toxoplasma before pregnancy and who develop a primary infection during pregnancy can transmit it to the fetus. If a pregnant woman was infected with Toxoplasma before pregnancy, she no longer poses a risk of transmission.