A new study posted in Forbes says that there may be a link between an infection that causes suicides among women and your cat. According to the findings, the parasite is known as Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii for short) and has been nicknamed the “kitty litter parasite.” This is because the odd parasites are transferred through a cat’s feces. According to the report, about one-third of the world’s population is infected with the odd parasite, which hides in the human immune system. It also hides in the brain and muscle cells in human bodies, where it is not easy to detect. Normally the host doesn’t develop symptoms to this infection, so it is not a serious concern. However, some carriers have been known to develop mental illness, particularly as they age, in conjunction with this parasite. A lot of times, the parasite can promote schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

There are also reports that the parasite causes more traffic accidents as people let their emotions get the better of them and drive aggressively out on the road. Now, T. gondii has also been linked to many suicides in the United States. Researchers claim that the kitty litter parasite may particularly affect women, and promote suicide later in life. The parasite can be transferred from mother to child, as determined from an analytics exercise done on 45,788 women in Denmark. The babies were screened for T. gondii after their birth, but doctors found that the illness didn’t develop until they were three months old. They were the antibodies transferred from the blood of their mothers.

A Danish scientific team found that women infected with the kitty litter parasite are 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than those who are not. No one is quite certain why the parasite causes this dismal reaction. Those who had more T. gondii antibodies in their system were even more likely to commit suicide. As well, those who took their own life and had a significant dose of the parasite in their system usually created more violent suicides than those who did not. Because the parasite is not normally detected during the person’s lifetime, chances are that these depressed individuals were unaware that an illness was governing their decision to end their life.

T. gondii has also been linked to “suicide” in rodents. A project showed that rats are not as fearful when exposed to cat odors for a long amount of time. This makes the rats more prone to approach a feline’s territory- a decision that could prove fatal. The latest study on this subject says that T. gondii infection is not a random event. Instead, it is detectable if people chose to take tests for the illness. Once again, as a reassurance, you may not ever experience the symptoms of the kitty litter parasite, even if you have it in your system. If you have cats and are worried about the parasite, then you should consider getting a self-cleaning litter box.

Less contact with the animal’s waste will reduce your possibility of receiving the parasite. As well, you can take your cat to the vet and have it tested for T. gondii if you prefer. This sickness is hard to detect, and may be expensive to discover. If you have more concerns, speak to your local vet. Try to keep children away from the cat box when possible, or purchase a shell for your cat’s litter pan to avoid spreading the odors. By keeping a clean cat-box and limiting your contact with your cat’s waste, you might be able to avoid infection of the kitty litter parasite.