Tinfoil Tuesday?
CDC silent on zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains
[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently denied knowing of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one would that would present zombie-like symptoms), after a series of instances of cannibalism across the country were reported, but remains silent about the effect of zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains.
A 2008 piece by Discover Magazine entitled, Zombie animals and the parasites that control them, named a single-cell parasite primarily found in cats, the Toxoplasma gondii which alters the brain-chemistry of rats to make them more likely to seek out cats as one such parasite.
The Toxoplasma thus makes a rat more likely to be killed and the parasite more likely to end up in a cat the only host in which it can complete the reproductive step of its life cycle, Discover reported in a separate piece.]
http://news.yahoo.com/cdc-silent-zo...Rwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3
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Zombie Animals and the Parasites that Control Them
[Humans might not be exempt from the mind control of parasites, either. Half of us, scientists say, carry the parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii. And once we have toxoplasma in our bodies, we carry it for life.
The rate of infection can vary wildly from country to country; only three percent of South Koreans have are infected by toxoplasma, while as many as 80 percent of French people are carriers. The Centers for Disease Control says that areas where people prefer undercooked meat, like France, or have stray cats running around, like Central America, are rife for infection.
Though the parasite's main host is the cat, it can live in thousands of warm-blooded species (and we're on the list). Toxoplasmosis, researchers have found, might make people more likely to be schizophrenic, and can change personality in subtle ways. One researcher found that infected men were more aggressive and jealous, women were more outgoing, and perhaps most seriously, both had slower reaction times and were in more traffic accidents.]
http://discovermagazine.com/photos/04-zombie-animals-and-the-parasites-that-control-them
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Jaroslav Flegr: A manipulation hypothesis
Brain parasite influences human behavior, Czech scientist says
[We know now that these changes between infected and Toxoplasma-free subjects are real and concern not only personality, he says, but real behavior.
Flegrs research is gaining some acceptance in the scientific community, bolstered by testing on rodents and interest from U.S. schizophrenia researchers.
He is very much a pioneer in this area, looking at possible personality changes, says E. Fuller Torrey, a prominent American psychologist who is studying links between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis.]
http://www.praguepost.com/archivescontent/3144-jaroslav-flegr-a-manipulation-hypothesis.html
CDC silent on zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains
[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently denied knowing of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one would that would present zombie-like symptoms), after a series of instances of cannibalism across the country were reported, but remains silent about the effect of zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains.
A 2008 piece by Discover Magazine entitled, Zombie animals and the parasites that control them, named a single-cell parasite primarily found in cats, the Toxoplasma gondii which alters the brain-chemistry of rats to make them more likely to seek out cats as one such parasite.
The Toxoplasma thus makes a rat more likely to be killed and the parasite more likely to end up in a cat the only host in which it can complete the reproductive step of its life cycle, Discover reported in a separate piece.]
http://news.yahoo.com/cdc-silent-zo...Rwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zombie Animals and the Parasites that Control Them
[Humans might not be exempt from the mind control of parasites, either. Half of us, scientists say, carry the parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii. And once we have toxoplasma in our bodies, we carry it for life.
The rate of infection can vary wildly from country to country; only three percent of South Koreans have are infected by toxoplasma, while as many as 80 percent of French people are carriers. The Centers for Disease Control says that areas where people prefer undercooked meat, like France, or have stray cats running around, like Central America, are rife for infection.
Though the parasite's main host is the cat, it can live in thousands of warm-blooded species (and we're on the list). Toxoplasmosis, researchers have found, might make people more likely to be schizophrenic, and can change personality in subtle ways. One researcher found that infected men were more aggressive and jealous, women were more outgoing, and perhaps most seriously, both had slower reaction times and were in more traffic accidents.]
http://discovermagazine.com/photos/04-zombie-animals-and-the-parasites-that-control-them
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaroslav Flegr: A manipulation hypothesis
Brain parasite influences human behavior, Czech scientist says
[We know now that these changes between infected and Toxoplasma-free subjects are real and concern not only personality, he says, but real behavior.
Flegrs research is gaining some acceptance in the scientific community, bolstered by testing on rodents and interest from U.S. schizophrenia researchers.
He is very much a pioneer in this area, looking at possible personality changes, says E. Fuller Torrey, a prominent American psychologist who is studying links between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis.]
http://www.praguepost.com/archivescontent/3144-jaroslav-flegr-a-manipulation-hypothesis.html