Pregnant people can contract toxoplasmosis, which causes birth defects like blindness and brain defects. The parasite is more common than you might think.
It makes rodents lose fear of predators and become more likely to be eaten by a cat, which is where toxoplasmosis wants to live. It does this by literally changing the brain of the victim animal. Evidence is showing that the same effect happens in humans and we sometimes engage in riskier behavior as a result of infection.
It makes rodents lose fear of predators and become more likely to be eaten by a cat, which is where toxoplasmosis wants to live. It does this by literally changing the brain of the victim animal. Evidence is showing that the same effect happens in humans and we sometimes engage in riskier behavior as a result of infection.
On a more serious note, some think it might cause schizophrenia.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41537-022-00292-2
Apparently it makes men, but not women enjoy the smell of cat piss (it makes women enjoy cat piss less).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210761/