Cats are clean animals — but they can be a danger to pregnant women.
They pose the risk of the condition called toxoplasmosis.
In most cases, this is a mild human infection but, if a woman gets it for the first time during pregnancy, severe damage can occur to the foetus.
Oocysts or eggs may be passed with the faeces and be a source of infection.
Contact with the cat’s litter-tray or gardening without gloves in soil where the faeces may be buried can infect humans.
Eating improperly cooked meat, which may contain the oocysts, is another source of infection, if not the main one. Blood tests show that most of us eventually come into contact with the parasite, which appears to be widespread in most countries, although infections are often mild and undiagnosed.
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