The advice outlined below may help to reduce your risk of developing a toxoplasmosis infection.
- Wear gloves when gardening, particularly when handling soil - also, wash your hands thoroughly afterwards with soap and hot water.
- Do not eat raw or undercooked meat - particularly lamb, pork and venison, including any ready-prepared chilled meals. Cook all red meat until no trace of pinkness remains and the juices run clear. Do not taste meat before it is fully cooked. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meat.
- Wash all kitchenware thoroughly after preparing raw meat.
- Always wash fruit and vegetables before cooking and eating - this includes ready-prepared salads.
- Avoid drinking unpasteurised goats' milk or eating products that are made from it.
- Do not handle or adopt stray cats.
- Avoid cat faeces in cat litter or soil - wear gloves if you are changing a cat’s litter tray and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. If you are pregnant or immune deficient, ask someone else to change it for you.
- Feed your cat dried or canned cat food rather than raw meat.
It is important that pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system follow this advice to avoid becoming infected.
Pregnant women should avoid contact with sheep and newborn lambs during the lambing season because there is a small risk that an infected sheep or lamb could pass the infection on at this time.
