Prevalence of bovine sarcocystosis in slaughtered cattle in Duhok abattoir, Iraq

Abstract

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.