A survey on Sarcocystis spp. infection in cattle of Tabriz city, Iran

Abstract

Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent protozoan parasites in the striated muscles of livestock slaughtered for food such as cattle, sheep and goat. Meat that is heavily infected may be condemned as unfit for human consumption. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. in slaughtered cattle in Tabriz, northwest of Iran. The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. infection was investigated in 670 cattle, slaughtered from April 2013 to October 2013 in the Tabriz abattoir, Iran using naked eye examination for macroscopic Sarcocysts, and peptic digestion, muscle squash, squeezing methods for microscopic types. Muscles from oesophagus, tongue, heart, diaphragm and cervical and abdominal of 670 slaughtered cattle were examined for Sarcocystis spp. cysts. The prevalence of microscopic Sarcocystis spp. cysts in cattle was detected in 100 % and there was detected in macroscopic cyst 8.2 % in examined cattle. There were no significant differences among the infection rates of the different organs (P [ 0.05). There were no significant differences among the infection rates of the different ages (P [ 0.05). The prevalence of macroscopic infection in the oesophagus was higher than that of the other organs (P \ 0.05). The infection rate was independent of sex (8.25 % in males and 8.13 % in females, P [ 0.05). This suggests that meat should be cooked sufficiently, since a macroscopic inspection may not provide true results. Also, it has of great importance the farmers to be trained not to feed their dogs and cats with uncooked meat, and the abattoir remnants to be burned, in order to be effectively broken of infection cycle between the intermediate and the definitive hosts in Tabriz city, northwest of Iran.

Histopathological Survey on <i>Sarcocystis</i> Species Infection in Slaughtered Cattle of Zabol-Iran

“…In this case report, several spindleshaped macrocysts were observed in diaphragmatic muscle. In a related study, the incidence of macroscopic sarcocysts in cattle slaughtered in Tabriz was declared 8.2%, predominantly in esophagus muscle (5). In the present study macro-sarcocysts in cattle (S. hirsuta) were observed in one case (1%) and in the masticatory muscle.…”

“…Among these, S. cruzi with more than 90% prevalence in adult cattle cardiac muscle has the most occurrence reports in many countries in the world (4). S. hirsuta and S. hominis with less infection rates in comparison with S. cruzi, mostly have been found in esophagus and striated muscles (but less in cardiac muscle) (3,5); however, epidemiological reports have been scarce in the last few years. In Iran, there are only two reports about the occurrence of macroscopic type of sarcocystosis in cattle (S. hirsuta) (5,6).…”

Parasitic causes of meat and organs in cattle at four slaughterhouses in Sistan‐Baluchestan Province, Southeastern Iran between 2008 and 2016

“…Consequently, bovine T. saginata cysticercus may be more common in late spring (Taylor et al., 2016). The absence of Sarcocystis cysts based merely on macroscopic inspection by meat inspectors cannot be trusted as this parasite has been reported in cattle slaughtered in Tabriz, northwest Iran (8.2%) (Mirzaei & Rezaei, 2016).…”

Sarcocystis fusiformis whole cyst antigen activates pro-inflammatory dendritic cells

“…The Sarcocystis species are a group of apicomplexan intracellular coccidian parasites with an obligatory twohost life cycle that causes infection in humans and livestock globally (Poulsen and Stensvold 2014;Mirzaei and Rezaei 2016;Dong et al 2018). There are four species of Sarcosystis that infect buffalo, its intermediate host (Sarcocystis (S) fusiformis, S. buffalonis, S. levinei and S. dubeyi) in countries such as Iran, Iraq, China and Egypt.…”