Oral Infection of Mammals with Sarcocystis fusiformis Bradyzoites from Cattle and Sporocysts from Dogs and Coyotes

Abstract

Individual sporocysts containing 4 sporozoites were shed in the feces of dogs, foxes, and raccoons after ingestion of bovine tissue infected with Sarcocystis fusiformis bradyzoites. No sporocysts were shed by cats, monkeys, swine, skunks, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, or rabbits after ingestion of similar bovine tissue. The shedding of sporocysts by dogs that had ingested tissue from a bovine experimentally infected with sporocysts from coyotes indicated that both canids were definitive hosts for the same species of Sarcocystis. After oral inoculation wtih sporocysts from dogs previously fed infected bovine heart, a calf became infected; but sheep, swine, rats, mice, rabbits, and monkeys did not. These results show the narrow specificity of the asexual stages of this parasite for the bovine intermediate host and the wider, though still restricted, host range of the sexual stages of this parasite for coyotes, dogs, foxes, and raccoons, the definitive hosts.

The coccidian parasites (Protozoa, Apicomplexa) of carnivores

“…Second-generation meronts in endothelial cells of capillaries of many organs, mostly in kidney glomeruli Johnson, 1973, 1974). Sarcocysts in skeletal muscles (esophagus, diaphragm, heart, other muscles of ox (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976 Levine (1973), Sarcocystis (presumably both S. cruzi, S. hirsuta, and S. hominis) was found in 75%-98% (mean, 85%) of cattle in 3 surveys in the United States. Skibsted (1945) Boch, Laupheimer, and Erber (1978) They lack a micropyle, residuum, and polar granule.…”

“…Simpson (1966) (Heydorn and Rommel, 1972;Fayer and Leek, 1973;Suteu and Coman, 1973;Fayer, Mahrt, and Johnson, 1973;Fayer, 1974Gestrich, Heydorn, and Baysu, 1975;Dubey and Streitel, 1976); 8-9 days in dog, fox, and wolf (Rommel et al, 1974); or 9-10 days in coyote pups (Fayer and Johnson, 1975 (Heydorn and Rommel, 1972;Fayer, 1974Fayer and Leek, 1973;Suteu and Coman, 1973;Rommel et al, 1974;Gestrich, Heydorn, and Baysu, 1975;Dubey and Streitel, 1976;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976); 14-21 days in fox (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976);8-22 days in raccoon (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976); 10-11 days in coyote pups (Fayer and Johnson, 1975). Most sporocysts were shed by dogs from days 15-30 after being fed sarcocysts, and peak numbers were shed on days 23 and 24 .…”

“…However, it is highly pathogenic for the ox. Johnson (1973, 1974) Lunde (Rommel et al, 1974), red fox V. vulpes (Rommel et al, 1974;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), coyote C. latrans (Fayer, 1974;Fayer and Johnson, 1975) and raccoon P. lotor (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976) (Gestrich, Heydorn, and Baysu, 1975 ;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), skunk Mephitis mephitis (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), ferret Mustek furo (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), hyena Crocuta crocuta (Rommel et al, 1974), brown bear Ursus arctos (Rommel et al, 1974), pig (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), sheep (Gestrich, Schmitt, and Heydorn, 1974;Gestrich, Heydorn, and Baysu, 1975;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), rhesus monkey (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), laboratory rabbit (Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), guinea pig (Suteu and Coman, 1973;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), laboratory mouse (Suteu and Coman, 1973), laboratory rat (Aryeetey and Piekarski, 1976;Fayer, Johnson, and Hildebrandt, 1976), and chicken (Suteu and Coman, 1973).…”

Development of Ox‐Coyote Cycle of Sarcocystis cruzi1

“…Fayer and his associates first described the developmental stages in calves inoculated with sporocysts from the feces of dogs with the Beltsville isolate of S. cruzi (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). When available information on the ox-dog cycle is compared with information from this study in Table 11, differences are apparent.…”

Sarcocystosis: A Clinical Outbreak in Dairy Calves

“…Epidemiologically, the dog was strongly incriminated as the source of infection, although other carnivores cannot be excluded as final hosts (16).…”