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Furthering Donald Trump's MAGA conspiracy on Haitian immigrants in Ohio abducting and consuming pets, Elon Musk took to X on September 11, 2024, stating:
"Toxoplasma gondii is a danger to our democracy."
In his speech during the ABC presidential debate on September 11, 2024, Donald Trump stated that immigrants in Springfield are eating people's pets. Trump mentioned:
"The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They're eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there."
Elon Musk's comment referenced Trump's claim from his presidential debate, given toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. The parasite reproduces within the intestines of cats, and humans get infected by eating undercooked meat or direct or indirect contact with cat feces. The toxoplasma gondii virus requires cats to reproduce; however, owning a cat doesn't put one at increased risk of getting toxoplasmosis.
Elon Musk furthering Donald Trump's claims about immigrants in Ohio arises from multiple sources that have been shared numerous times by pro-Trump social media pages. According to BBC, on August 27, 2024, a local claiming to be a social media influencer attended a Springfield City Commission meeting and gave a speech against Haitian immigrants. Among his list of grievances, the resident mentioned that immigrants were slaughtering park ducks for food, but there was no evidence for his claim.
Toxoplasma gondii: Symtoms, cure, and other details of parasite mentioned by Elon Musk explored
Elon Musk's mention of toxoplasma gondii has led people to seek awareness of what the parasite does to the human body, especially in correlation to the MAGA conspiracy.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, most people infected with toxoplasma gondii don't showcase symptoms, while some get symptoms similar to the flu. Mayo Clinic has dubbed it a "serious disease" that usually affects infants and individuals with a weak immune system. Moreover, toxoplasmosis caused by toxoplasma gondii can cause birth defects and miscarriage during pregnancy.
The flu-like symptoms that one undergoes during toxoplasmosis include:
- Headache
- Muscle ache
- Fever
- Swollen lymph nodes lasting for weeks
- Skin rash
The Mayo Clinic website states that most infections caused by the parasite Elon Musk mentioned in his tweet don't require treatment. However, medicines are prescribed for those with weak immune systems, pregnant women, and newborns.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, toxoplasmosis is usually treated using a combination of antibiotics and anti-parasitic medicines that stop the toxoplasma gondii parasite from reproducing and spreading in the human body. The medical website states that folinic acid is given to patients during toxoplasmosis to reduce the side effects that anti-parasitic medicines can cause.
Some of the medicines that treat the toxoplasma gondii virus recently mentioned by Elon Musk include Atovaquone, Clindamycin, Leucovorin, Sulfadizine, Pyrimethamine, Spiramycin, and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
In other news, Elon Musk's support for Donald Trump in the 2024 Presidential elections is garnering attention, especially owing to Musk defending the former president. A recent instance of this is Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris and calling herself a "childless cat lady" in reference to Trump's running mate JD Vance's comment from 2021.
Responding to Swift, Musk took to X on September 11, 2024, and tweeted, "Fine Taylor … you win …" further offering that he would give the singer a child and guard her cats with his life.
