Abstract
We investigated the prevalence of sarcocystosis in 826 goats slaughtered in the winter season from November to April in northern Iraq. The prevalence of macrocysts was on average 34%, with only 20% infected animals in November, but 46% in February. The infection rate in 1-, 3- and 6-year-old goats was 4%, 48%, and 83%, respectively. The highest specificity of infection was in the oesophagus (99%) and the lowest in the diaphragm (3%). Grossly, we identified 2 forms of macroscopic sarcocysts, fat and thin, with different morphological characteristics. The prevalence of microcysts was 97% and no effects of age, sex and seasonal variations were observed. Development of microcysts in the small intestine of dogs and cats has also been investigated. The pre-patent period in experimentally infected dogs was 12-14 days and the patent period lasted 64-66 days. A dog shed about 155 million sporocysts, but no sporocysts were shed by cats that had been fed the same infected tissues, thus identifying the microcysts as Sarcocystis capracanis.
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