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The article considers several generations of Pakistani immigrants from Karachi to various cities in the United States such as Chicago and New York and explores how chronic diseases are shaped by the reverberations of conflict in kin relations in the US and Pakistan. Instead of examining the experience of chronic illness in isolation, the article considers how webs of evolving relations, tensions, competition, and conflicts among distant and close kin are experienced by the vulnerable and those who try to care for them. These conflicts are shaped by the experience of absence and also in the lives of intimate kin, and often appear in violent form. In navigating these relations, caregivers of those with illnesses develop strategies to maintain communications with wider kinship networks while also shielding the sick from the ramifications of ongoing disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an important parasite that belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, distributed globally, causing major health issues for a wide range of hosts, including humans, native and wild animals. Methods: In the present study, we detected IgG and IgM antibodies through an ELISA kit and DNA of T. gondii through PCR in 197 pets and stray cats in Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, and Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) to estimate the existence of feline toxoplasmosis. Results: The current study revealed that stray cats have a significant infection rate of T. gondii (74.6%) as compared to pet cats (25.4%). In all the four districts, the prevalence of T. gondii was pointedly higher in district Kohat (95.5%) in the feline population. In comparison to the female (75.18%) and male (both pets and stray) cats have a maximum infection of (81.66%) non-significantly. The prevalence of T. gondii was observed to be significantly higher (91.66%) in the older and greater than 4 year old population of cats as compared to the younger ones. In poor health condition, the cat populations has a higher risk of infection of 92.3% as compared to healthy and poor body condition (73.91%) and (82.6%) respectively. The chronic and reactivated chronic conditions of toxoplasmosis were higher (58.37%) as compared to the acute condition. Conclusion: It has been concluded that toxoplasmosis is widely spread in the studied population.The outcomes of the present study show that T. gondii infection has a significant impact on the type of cat, age, and area, which implies a serious threat to human beings. Therefore, genotyping of T. gondii strains from different hosts is needed to forecast the current approach for prevention and control of this zoonotic parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]