Madam, - Reading John Downes's piece on neutering feral cats in your edition of February 8th, I was glad to see that at last there is concern about the threat of zoonotic disease spread by cats.
I must stress that it is not only feral cats that are the problem; all cats have the freedom to move around neighbourhoods and defecate in gardens and children's play areas. With a million cats in Dublin, the threat is real.
For years dogs have been targeted by councils and others as spreaders of disease to humans. However cats are much more likely than dogs to carry the worm infection Toxocara cati, which can infect humans. In addition cats, rather than dogs, can directly infect humans with Toxoplasma gondii, which is a most serious threat to immuno-compromised humans and pregnant women. They can also carry and spread ringworm and several viruses and bacteria.
It is time that some form of control or licensing of cats was put in place to minimise this risk. - Yours, etc,
Dr DERMOT J. O'BRIEN, Stonepark Abbey, Dublin 14.