Received Oct 12; Accepted Dec The present study, to our knowledge, is the first to determine the prevalence of Sarcocystis infection and morphologically and molecularly identify Sarcocystis species in cattle in Qena Governorate, Upper Egypt. The samples were macroscopically and histologically examined, and the molecular identification of the species was performed using 18S ribosomal subunit DNA through PCR and DNA sequencing.
Infection was detected in 72 out of 84 animals Using light microscopy, the microscopic sarcocysts were observed to be thin-walled. The present study is the first to identify Sarcocystis infection in cattle in Qena Governorate, Upper Egypt both morphologically and molecularly.
Sarcocystis cruzi and S. Additionally, the results show that Sarcocystis species are not host-specific. Narges et al. Sarcocystis species have a wide range of hosts Dubey et al. Cattle are intermediate hosts for five Sarcocystis species, including S. Among the several Sarcocystis spp. Therefore, the infection is potentially zoonotic.
Human hosts are infected by consuming raw or undercooked beef containing mature cysts. Human infections are distributed worldwide Boonjaraspinyo et al. Sarcocystis species can be differentiated on the basis of their morphological features, including the sarcocyst walls, which can be studied via histopathological examination and electron microscopy.
Electron microscopy has considerable limitations, i. In addition, a few firmly related intermediate hosts may have morphologically undefined sarcocysts. However, sarcocysts of the same type in different intermediate hosts are considered different species in light of the supposition that Sarcocystis spp. Since , molecular methods have been progressively used to support the identification of various Sarcocystis spp.
