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Nonpredisposed Albino guinea pigs were infected intravenously with Rhizopus microsporus var. rhizopodiformis or with Rhizopus oryzae. Both strains were highly pathogenic. They killed all control animals between days 4 and 7 and between days 5 and 9 after infection, respectively. All animals presented invasion of almost all internal organs and skin eruptions developing into ulcers. Oral treatment with ketocon-azole, itraconazole, fluconazole or saperconazole was inefficacious. Parenteral treatment with amphotericin B prolonged survival and was life-saving in 9 out of 12 guinea pigs infected with Rh. microsporus var. rhizopodiformis and in 5 out of 12 infected with Rh. oryzae. More active therapy is needed.

Muscle tissue from the oesophagus, diaphragm and heart of 100 cattle slaughtered in Belgium was examined for Sarcocystis infection by microscopic examination of tissue and artificial digestion. Intact sarcocysts or cystozoietes were recovered from 97% of the cattle examined. There was a difference in sensitivity between the method (digestion or histology) used and the muscle processed. The digestion of the oesophagus muscle resulted in the highest number of positive animals whereas the heart muscles contained most cysts during histological examination. Thin-walled cysts were recovered from all positive animals especially in the heart and they were indistinguishable from those of S. cwzi. Thick-walled cysts were recovered from 56 % of animals but these could not be identified as S. hirsuta and/or S. hominis on morphological grounds. A correlation between pathological changes and the infection grade could not be proved.

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