Prevalence and morphological studies on Sarcocystis species infecting cattle in Bangalore

Of the 100 cattle carcasses examined at Bangalore, Karnataka state, 84 (84%) were positive for Sarcocystis infection. Different techniques like muscle squash preparation, modification of muscle squash method, rapid isolation technique, acid-pepsin digestion and histopathology were undertaken for isolation and identification of Sarcocystis species. Three species of Sarcocystis viz. S. bovicanis (78.55%), S. bovifelis (34.50%) and S. bovihominis (21.42%) were detected after morphological studies. Different morphological characters like size, shape and structures on the cyst wall were considered for identification of Sacrocystis species. Screening in different muscle samples revealed that oesophagus (84.52%) and heart (79.76%) were most infected organs followed by diaphragm and tongue. Histopathological studies revealed microscopic lesions with infiltration of large number of lymphocytes around the affected muscle fibres.