Abstract-Sarcocystis

Sarcocystis is considered as a common zoonotic coccidian parasite that infects intermediate hosts orally through ingestion of contaminated graze or water with protozoa oocyte. The purpose of study is to demonstrate the incidence of Sarcocystis infection in imported cattle in Duhok abattoir and achieve the gold conventional method for muscular tissue cyst and bradyzoites detection. Muscular tissue samples have been collected from esophagus, heart and diaphragm of 150 cattle. From a total of 1350 inspected samples (diaphragm, esophagus and heart) from three different imported origin have been 94%, 92% and 41.3% samples infected respectively as well as significant differences (p <0.01) in the distribution of Sarcocystis infection among organs included and microscopic method used while no significant been found in terms of the animal origin source. Moreover, acid pepsin digestion method has shown high sensitivity in detection of Sarcocystis infection. The infection with Sarcocystis is common in imported cattle and epidemiological studies must be conducted to evaluate the country endemic with the infection.

Background: Sarcocystis species and Toxoplasma gondii are both zoonotic obligatory intracellular protozoan organisms and cyst-forming coccidian parasites that occur in domestic animals and human throughout the world.Methods: Forty local breed rabbits were divided into four groups, each group ten. Group one were infected with Sarcocystis, group two with Toxoplasma and group three with both parasites and last group was non-infected control group. The LAT serological test was used for detection of anti-toxoplasma antibody in serum of Toxoplasma infected rabbits. The direct impression smears stained with Giemsa was prepared from different body organs including; liver, lung, heart, brain and skeletal muscle for detection of tissue cysts (Bradyzoites) of T. gondii and microcysts of Sarcocystis.Results: In group one, 70% of infected rabbits were positive for toxoplasmosis by serological test; both are and by impression smear method 80% of the rabbits were positive for T. gondii with tissue cysts. Fifty percent of rabbits were positive for microcysts of Sarcocystis by direct impression smear method in group two. In group three, the impression smear and latex agglutination method were positive in 40% and 60% of rabbits, respectively. Statistically, there was no significant difference in detection of toxoplasmosis and sarcocystosis by LAT and impression smear method in group one and three.Conclusions: Rabbits could be source of toxoplasmosis and sarcocystosis and have public health implications and hazard as source of food. They might be source of infection for cats and shed environmentally resistant oocysts.

Background: Sarcocystosis or infection with Sarcocystis species is a parasitic zoonotic disease caused by cyst forming coccidian intracellular protozoa that caused by different species of Sarcocystis. The cyst forming parasite has obligatory two hosts life cycle including carnivorous as definitive host and omnivorous or herbivorous as intermediate host. The parasitic infestation causes serious health problems and economical loses because of abortion in pregnant animals, carcass condemnation after slaughtering due to severe emaciation and pathological lesions, low quality of meat, milk and wool, as well as restriction on animal importation by authorities.Methods: The present work was conducted to study the prevalence of sarcocysts infection in slaughtered cattle at Duhok abattoir, Iraq. Muscle samples from different organs comprising esophagus, diaphragm and heart were collected from 150 cattle aged from one to two years old. Different techniques were used for detection of macroscopic and microscopic types of sarcocysts. The techniques including inspection by naked eye, peptic digestion method, muscle mincing and squash preparation and staining with giemsa stain, as well as histopathological examination.Results: The overall prevalence of infected muscle samples was 76%. The infection rate of microscopic type of sarcocyst was 41.3% in heart, 92% in diaphragm and 94% in oesophagus. The histopathological examination of infected muscle tissues revealed mild infiltration of inflammatory cells and slight degeneration of muscle fibers. Significant difference (p≤0.05) was recorded between the prevalence rate of macrocysts and microcysts of sarcocyst but there was no significant difference (p≥0.05) in the prevalence rate of sarcocystis infection among different organs.Conclusions: The results of the current study indicated a high prevalence of sarcocystis infection among slaughtered cattle in Duhok province, Iraq, that could be due existence of large numbers of dogs and cats around the slaughter house which are involved in life cycle of the parasite and spread of the infection.

A typical case of a 7-years-old Kurdish male shepherd dog was referred with two weeks history of lethargy, restlessness, anorexia and severe emaciation. Physical examination of the dog revealed generalized lymphadenopathy, strong pale mucous membrane, systolic murmur of the heart, vomiting, bloody diarrhea and fever. Hematological abnormalities indicated moderate to marked leukocytosis characterized by 89% neutrophilia with a left shift to progranulocytes and 1.6% presumptive myeloid blasts, marked thrombocytopenia, marked non-regenerative normocytic hypochromic anemia and dysplasia in platelets and neutrophils. The histopathological examination revealed excessive infiltration with neoplastic myeloid cells that invaded all the internal organs. Bone marrow analysis revealed marked hypercellularity with a predominance of immature cells, marked myeloid 6.2%, dysplasia of neutrophils lineage and rare erythroid progenitors and numerous megakaryocytes. Enlargement of superficial and visceral lymph nodes and internal body organs, especially liver and spleen were observed in the autopsy after animal euthanasia. Our results confirmed that this dog was suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia. Statistically, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the mean value of myeloid blasts in peripheral blood and bone marrow. But, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was found between the mean values of leukocytic ratio in peripheral circulation and bone marrow. This is the first case report study that has been recorded in a native shepherd dog in a rural area around Duhok province/ Iraq.