Cat parasite seen infecting wildlife

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., May 12 (UPI) -- A parasite carried by cats that can sicken and kill other animals has been found in wildlife in a 1,500-acre nature area in central Illinois, researchers say.

University of Illinois scientists said a study involving tracking, trapping and motion-triggered night photography in the park found no evidence of bobcats but plenty of examples of feral or abandoned house cats, many of them found to be infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, a university release said Thursday.

T. gondii reproduces in cats and is passed along in their feces. Other animals can pick up the parasite from soil or water or by eating other infected animals.

Infection can lead to neurological problems, and sometimes death, in humans and other animals, the researchers said.

Cats are vital for the survival of the parasite, which cannot reproduce in any other animal, so they are either directly or indirectly spreading T. gondii to the wildlife in the park, the researchers said.

"There's no other option," Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, a wildlife veterinary epidemiologist, said.