Contrary to the claims of The Reykjavík Grapevin, toxoplasmosis is not a virus; it’s a parasite.

But according to Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, “Because this is such an interesting topic, maybe I will get one more minute to cover it, because it is extremely important that we, precisely, protect the wholesomeness of Icelandic products, that we don’t use additives, steroids and hormones and such in the production of Icelandic meat,’ Sigmundur Davíð pleaded in a live interview on radio-station Bylgjan on Thursday. … Another thing, no less important, is that we remain free of all sorts of infections which are, unfortunately, all to common in very many places. These are not just harmful to the animals but can be very detrimental to people. For example, there is a virus that causes people’s behavior to change. If they eat, for instance, meat in other countries, that has not been cooked particularly well, then people are at risk of ingesting this infection. And it can lead to changes in behavioral patterns. People have even posed the question, and researched, if this might be changing the behavior of whole nations. This sounds like science fiction, but …’

At this point the radio host intervened to ask: Where has this come up?

‘This is very common,’ Sigmundur Davíð replied, ‘for example widely in East-Europe, France, not least Belgium. Actually all over the world. The prevalence is variable, but there are some countries that stand out, where this toxoplasma is rare. That’s Iceland. And Norway. And the UK, actually. Remarkably. There, people are rather safe against this critter.’

The Prime Minister then recommended that the radio hosts interview a scientist or a doctor about this ‘extremely interesting’ phenomenon.