A Veterinary Expert has advised pregnant women to avoid cats for their good and that of their unborn children.

Professor Olanike Adeyemo, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships), at University of Ibadan, gave the advice in a media interview.

“Many people don’t know that a pregnant woman should not be in contact with cats because cats transmit a disease that causes abortion,” the Professor of Veterinary Medicine said.

Asked how this could happen, Professor Adeyemo replied, saying: “She should not be in contact with a cat’s litter if she is pregnant. It also causes some changes and makes babies defective. But a combination of many factors makes disease transmission occur.

“If your level of immunity is high, you may not be down when others who are in the same place as you are down. We also have some people who do not believe in vaccines and those ones are usually the weaklings.”

The veterinary expert pointed out another danger which she identified as Toxoplasmosis virus.

Throwing more light on this, she said: “Toxoplasmosis is usually harmless, but in rare cases, it can lead to serious problems and cats spread the parasite via their faeces. Women are more at risk if they get infected in pregnancy. Toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriage. If it spreads to a woman’s baby it can cause serious complications, especially if she caught it early in pregnancy.”