Photo: Parasite "Brainwashes" Rats Into Craving Cat Urine, Study Finds

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A new study reveals that rodents infected with the parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii are drawn to the smell of cat urine, apparently having lost their otherwise natural aversion to the scent. This allows the parasite to be more easily transmitted to cats, in whose guts the protozoa reproduce.

Photograph by James L. Stansfield/NGS

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