Respectful Co-existence - Pregnancy and toxoplasmosis

What is the risk for pregnant women?

If the test comes out positive it means that you have already had contact with the parasite and your body already has the antibodies to defeat it should there be further contact, therefore there is nothing to worry about. In recent years the incidence in people in Spain has been between 9% and 22% (in other words, most of the population is negative).

If the test comes out negative it means that you have never had contact with the parasite before and therefore, if you have contact with it during pregnancy, especially in the first and second trimesters, there could be consequences for the foetus. In such case you should take precautions to avoid infection. Although many people believe it is the case, getting rid of your cat is not at all necessary.   

The primary cause of contracting toxoplasmosis is the consumption of meat (30-63% of cases of infection are due to this). The second most common cause is through contact with earth (6-17% of cases).

¿How can people get toxoplasmosis?

Toxoplasma gondii can be contracted in two ways:

1. By ingesting oocysts present in the muscles of another individual (by eating contaminated meat).
2. Also, raw fruits and vegetables can infect toxoplasmosis because they have been in contact with contaminated soil, since it is the most common means where we can find the parasite.
3. By ingesting oocysts present in an infected cat’s faeces.

For oocysts to be infective they must be sporulated. This happens from 24 hours to 5 days after an infected cat defecates during the period of elimination. This elimination period only occurs in cats which have been infected for the first time after 3-10 days and lasts 2-3 weeks.

Cats get infected by consuming contaminated meat. Therefore, if you want to prevent your cat from contracting the parasite, it would be best to neither allow it to hunt nor give it raw meat to eat.

How can you avoid infection?

To avoid the primary type of transmission it is recommended not to eat raw meat and to wash your hands thoroughly if you have handled it.

To avoid the second type of transmission, make sure you don’t ingest contaminated faeces. In order to do that you should wash anything coming out of the ground thoroughly, such as vegetables, to get rid of small pieces of soil which may contain oocysts.

Another important precaution is to wash your hands thoroughly after having handled soil, for example when doing the gardening or if you pet a cat. What is more, if the person lives with cats, the faeces have to cleared away every day and the tray disinfected, ideally this should be done by one of the people living at home, who is not pregnant.

Can a cat endanger a pregnancy?

For a cat to mean a risk to the normal monitoring of a pregnancy or the good health of the baby the following factors all have to be in play at the same time:

1. You have never been in contact with the parasite.
2. Your cat has consumed infected meat.
3. Your cat gets infected for the first time.
4. The infection occurred less than a month ago.
5. You touch your cat’s faeces without gloves from 1 to 5 days after it defecates.
6. You put the hand that touched the faeces to your mouth and ingest a particle.
7. You are pregnant.
8. The parasite goes through the barrier of the placenta and reaches the foetus.

The steps that you are really in control of are 5 and 6. The prevention of these factors is very simple and actually constitutes a healthy habit for anyone, wash your hands.

You are much more likely to contract toxoplasmosis from consuming meat (30-63% of cases of infection are down to this). The second most frequent cause is through contact with soil (6-17% of cases).

A study carried out in different parts of Europe found that contact with cats is not a risk factor towards contracting toxoplasmosis.