Prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. in meat-producing animals in Iraq

The prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. infection was investigated in 605 sheep, 826 goats, 1080 cattle, 580 water buffaloes and 36 camels slaughtered from 1992 to 1996 in the Baghdad area (Iraq) using naked eye examination for macroscopic sarcocysts, and peptic digestion, muscle squash, squeezing methods and indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for microscopic types. The intestinal stages of the parasite were also studied in dogs experimentally fed with tissues containing microscopic cysts. The percentage prevalence of macroscopic cysts were 4.1, 33.6, 0.2, 15.6 and 0, and of the microscopic type, 97.0, 97.4, 97.8, 82.9 and 91.6 for the above-mentioned hosts, respectively. Among the different organs examined, macroscopic cysts were found to be highest in the oesophagus and the lowest in the heart. Peptic digestion method gave the highest rate (93.3%) followed by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) (88.6%), squeezing (81.3%), and muscle squash (81.2%). Each infected dog shed a total of about 150-200 million sporocysts. Histologically, developmental stages of the parasite were detected in the small intestinal mucosa of the dogs on Days 7 and 13 post-infection.