Okay.... I will try to explain my shock.

Toxoplamosis is a viral infection, so the actual method of transmission is faeces to mouth, so you have to ingest faeces from your cat to catch it. That saying, its not unheard of for a cat to groom and get some faecal matter on its fur. A good idea is for your partner to clean the litter tray daily, or if you are left to do it, use gloves. When you pat and cuddle your cat, wash your hands afterwards. I am a vet nurse, and have handled cats with toxoplasmosis and I don't have any antibodies to it, meaning I haven't come in contact with it. I have been changing litter trays for over 10 years of mulitple cats. As long as you use safe handling you will be fine.

If you have an indoor cat, the only worry then would be if you have mice or lizards, they are what would spread toxo to your cat.
If you garden, you would actually have more of a chance of catching toxo.

Now the scratches one... I've never heard that one? Yes you can get infections from cat scratches, BUT the scratch would have to be very deep, and if you clean it out quickly and with iodine or something the likelihood of causing that degree of infection is quite low.

I guess there is always a risk, but I would think it was a very low risk. I was never told not to handle cats at work, I still did and I got scratched... I never heard anythink like that, or to that ummmmm extreme?

ETA: snap krys