Epizootology of Sarcocystosis in Domestic and Wild Ruminants

Abstract

Sarcocystosis is a widespread invasion of domestic and wild ruminants in the Udmurt Republic. The infection degree is 2.5 times higher in wild animals and amounts to 83.3%; cattle infestation according to the results of our studies is within 33.3%. The research material was samples of muscle tissue (myocardium, chewing muscles, esophageal wall, latissimus dorsi and biceps femoris) from 18 mooses and 42 cattle. The results of our studies showed that the degree of the infection of animals of the wild focus is 2.5 times higher than cattle. In each 4th carcass of moose carcasses, dystrophic changes in the structure of muscles were macroscopically revealed, and therefore 5 carcasses were disposed of. The invasion rate of cattle carcasses from livestock enterprises and private farms reaches up to 33.3%. Microscopic studies have shown that tissue forms of sarcocysts are most commonly found in the myocardium, chewing muscles and the wall of the esophagus. None of the 60 studied samples of the latissimus dorsi muscle has protozoa of the genus Sarcocystis detected.