Sarcocystis species in wild and domestic sheep (Ovis ammon and Ovis aries) from China

Abstract

BackgroundSarcocystis species are intracellular protozoan parasites that can pose a threat to animal health and food safety. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of infection with Sarcocystis infection in sheep from China.ResultsIn total, 52.51% (335/638) of tissue samples from domestic sheep contained sarcocysts through examination by light microscopy. The organisms were identified as S. tenella and S. arieticanis by molecular assays. Macroscopic S. gigantea and S. medusiformis were not found. The average sarcocysts loading was 18.07 ± 29.87 per square centimeter in the myocardium of domestic sheep. Furthermore, two specimens of argali (Ovis ammon) were examined and sarcocysts were found in the myocardium of one animal. According to the sequence of the cox1 gene of sarcocysts from argali, it was speculated as S. tenella.ConclusionsWe found a high prevalence and parasite load of Sarcocystis in sheep from both central and northwest China. This report is the first to indicate that argali may be a natural intermediate host for S. tenella.

Molecular Identification of Sarcocystis Species in Sheep from Lithuania

“…In general, the detection rates of microscopic S. arieticanis and S. tenella is higher as compared to the observation of macrocysts of Sarcocystis spp. worldwide [ 9 , 10 , 30 ]. For instance, some recent studies described occurrence rates of microscopic Sarcocystis spp.…”

“…It was shown that the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene ( cox1 ) was the best choice for the discrimination of these Sarcocystis species [ 7 ]. Sarcocystis species from sheep are usually identified by sequencing [ 3 , 4 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. By contrast, in some studies Sarcocystis species from sheep have been confirmed by PCR-RFLP [ 17 , 18 ].…”

First Report of Sarcocystis Masoni in a Captive Alpaca (Vicugna Pacos) From China

“…Although parasite loads from different hosts are not comparable. The average myocardial sarcocyst load in alpaca was 79.00 per square centimeter, which is much higher than in beef (1.40 cysts/cm 2 ) and feral pigs (3.03 cysts/cm 2 ) from the United States and mutton (7.84 cysts/cm 2 ), sheep (18.07 cysts/cm 2 ), and cattle (7.1 cysts/cm 2 ) from China (28)(29)(30)(31)(32). In this study, the higher parasite load in the alpaca indicated that it had contact with an environment contaminated with sporocysts, and that the alpaca was susceptible to S. masoni.…”

A Heavy Infection Macro-cysts of <i>Sarcocystis</i> Spp. Case in a Najdi Sheep at Buraidah Slaughter House, Qassim, Saudi Arabia

“…Sheep is considered intermediate host which ingest sarcocystis spores when feeding on contaminated pasture or hay/grain. Spores move from the gut to small blood vessels where they multiple and move into muscle tissue and develop into cysts [1][2][3][4][5].…”