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Sarcocystis Species: Animals as Intermediate Hosts

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Encyclopedia of Parasitology

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Sarcocystis Species in Ruminants

Name

Greek – sarx = meat, flesh; sporos = seed, cyst.

Species names are composed of names of intermediate and final host species (e.g., bovicanis – Latin: bos = cattle; canis = dog).

Geographic Distribution/Epidemiology

Worldwide, high prevalence rates (occasionally of 50 %) in animals on meadows.

Morphology/Life Cycle

After ingestion of sporulated oocysts, two generations of schizonts occur in cells of the wall of blood vessels of the omentum (Fig. 1). Beginning after one month cyst formation starts in muscle cells (Fig. 2). The formerly as Miescher’s tubes (Miescher) described tissue cysts can be found as different species in all ruminants. The following species (see others in Table 1, Sarcocystis ) are of importance for humans, since they may infect humans directly or lead to economic losses in cattle/sheep/goat production.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Light micrographs of schizonts of S. arieticanis inside epithelial cells of blood vessels of sheep. BGF blood vessels, BL...

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Further Readings

  • Frenkel JK, Heydorn AO, Mehlhorn H, Rommel M (1980) Clear communication or arbitraty ambiguity. Parasitol Res 62:199–201

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  • Kutkiene L et al (2012) Descriptions of Sarcocystis turdusi sp. nov. from the common black bird (Turdus merula). Parasitology 139:1438–1443

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehlhorn H, Heydorn AO (1978) The Sarcosporidia. Adv Parasitol 22:1–103

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  • Mehlhorn H, Heydorn AO, Frenkel JK, Göbel E (1985) Announcement of the establishment of neohepantotypes for some important Sarcocystis species. Parasitol Res 71:689–692

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  • Olias P et al (2010a) Sarcocystis calchasi distinct to S. columbae sp. from the wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and Sarcocystis sp. from the sparrowhawk. Vet Parasitol 171:7–14

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olias P et al (2010b) Sarcocystis species lethal for domestic pigeons. Emerg Infect Dis 16:497–499

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olias P et al (2010c) Sarcocystis calchasi sp. nov. of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) and the Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis): light and electron microscopic studies. Parasitol Res 106:577–585

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zoomorphologie, Zellbiologie und Parasitologie, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

Authors
  1. Heinz Mehlhorn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heinz Mehlhorn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Zoomorphology and Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Sarcocystis Species: Animals as Intermediate Hosts. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4491-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4491-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27769-6

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