Cats, which are considered to be favorite pet in the UK, are now acting as a threat on the UK population. It has been found through official assessment that cats have been spreading an infection known as Toxoplasma gondii to humans.

As many as 1,000 people in the US are being infected with the disease, which is also to have taken 350,000 lives in a year. Experts have informed that the infection gets passed on to humans through direct contact with cats or through consuming fruits, vegetables and meat, which is contaminated.

The disease effect can vary from mild to severe. Some of the common symptoms of the infection are weak immune system, congenital birth deformities, visual impairment, and formation of cysts in brain and in other vital organs of the body.

Experts believe that they have undermined the side effects of the infection, which can prove as the biggest food borne illness in the country. It has become vital that people should be informed about the infection, so that they can take all the possible precautions against the same.

"Eating any meat that is rare or undercooked is not safe. I would not advise anyone to eat undercooked meat given what we know and don't know", said Fuller Torrey, from America's Stanley Medical Research Institute.